


Happy Ending

by MagikMask



Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: Birth, F/F, F/M, Fluffy, Homophobia, M/M, Mpreg, No one dies AU, Slurs, not abo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:00:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24436267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagikMask/pseuds/MagikMask
Summary: What it says on the tin baby.
Relationships: Cordelia/Charlotte, Marvin/Whizzer Brown, Trina/Mendel
Comments: 6
Kudos: 47





	Happy Ending

Whizzer woke up to the smell of Marvin's shampoo, smiling a little bit to himself, he tried to cuddle in further but everything felt hot. He was roasting. His hair was damp with sweat and he sat up cautiously, careful not to disturb the man next to him. He wasn't too worried, Marvin slept like a bear in winter. He sat up in the bed taking a few deep breaths and swallowing. He gagged a little and took another shaky breath. 

Whizzer carefully got out of bed and speed walked to the bathroom which was, thankfully, on the other end of the apartment. He sat on the edge of the bath, eyes waning and waxing. This had happened a few times this week, he was typically able to get through the nausea without actually throwing up. Now, unfortunately, that wasn't the case. He took a few more deep breaths before he began to clutch the bowl, throwing up whatever it was they had for dinner last night. Ugh god maybe it was the Bar Mitzvah food samples. That's probably why. It couldn't be...

Whizzer swallowed hard, panting after he finished and stood up shakily. No... he couldn't... he'd heard whispers and rumors and suddenly his friends stopped showing up to the bar, the store- no! No it was fine. He looked at himself in the mirror, he was paler, but he just threw up. Whizzer reasoned himself calm and brushed his teeth, flushing the toilet and looking at the clock in the kitchen. 6 am. Marvin would be up soon, damn him and his biological dad-clock. He might as well stay up. 

He stayed in the bathroom a little while longer, making sure he wasn't that sick anymore. Dammit, he couldn't get the flu right now, he had already booked the racquetball court at the YMCA for this afternoon... Whizzer knew Marvin always got kind of disappointed when they had to cancel. Ugh. He'd suffer through it. He chugged a glass of water in the kitchen, shuffling to the couch with some tea and a book, trying to calm down and not get paranoid. 

When Marvin woke up to a lover-less bed he figured he was in the shower already. Bastard always wanted more time for his morning routine. He got on his basic slacks and dress shirt for work, then walked to the kitchen and turned to find a half naked Whizzer on the couch, an open book laying on his chest, fast asleep. The shorter man raised a worried eyebrow, walking over and pecking his cheek. 

Whizzer startled awake, looking around and then finally up at Marvin. "Oh, hi baby. Morning." "...Morning. Why are you on the couch?" "I woke up too early and then I tried to stay awake and... I didn't." He shrugged, tastefully omitting the reason he was awoken. If how Marvin acted when Jason got the flu that one time was any indication, he did not want Marvin to know he was sick. He could hardly handle his regular hovering. 

"Okay... what do you want for breakfast?" He swallowed and scratched the back of his neck. "Maybe just some toast." Yeah, that'll settle his stomach just fine. "You sure? We have racquetball this afternoon, might want to carb up." "I'm fine, just some toast please." He said, standing up and pecking his cheek, leaving to get changed. 

——

Jesus Christ was Marvin suddenly good or did he suddenly suck? He hadn't been this worn out in awhile. His eyes kept kind of falling closed and he was tripping over his own feet. "Bastard..." he grumbled, leaning against the white wall and catching his breath. "Aw come on, be a decent loser." Whizzer glared at him and stumbled forward. "I'm ready to go again.." he mumbled, and the world kind of tilted to the left and he fell onto the floor. 

Marvin sprinted towards him and cupped his head in his hands, worriedly mumbling sweet nothings and helping him out of the building into the car. The taller man leaned on him all the way out, eyelids fluttering. Marvin gulped and maybe broke a few traffic laws while getting to the hospital, rushing him in. 

——

Whizzed was laid out on the bed, alone in the room with Charlotte who regrettably stated the policy of "family only" to Marvin. She made him drink some water and eat a few crackers and soon he was feeling better. "It seems like a stomach bug. Your heart rate and breathing is fine, but let me take some blood okay?" Whizzer nodded softly and extended his arm. 

He wasn't a child, he wasn't afraid of needles, he was- 

Marvin jumped up as Charlotte walked out. "I drew some blood and he passed out. I think he might have just been dehydrated or underfed. He told me he threw up this morning too. Probably nothing more than a stomach flu, but I will do some blood tests. Take him home when he wakes up, no exertion, just food, water, and sleep." Marvin let out a grateful sigh and smiled. 

He read some waiting room magazines for an hour or so before Whizzer emerged, tired but okay for the most part. Marvin did everything as instructed, even when Whizzer mocked him for it. 

The next morning the same nausea struck him, and he found himself needing to sprint out, alerting his boyfriend. Marvin winced at the sound of puking coming from the bathroom, but he sat next to him and rubbed his back gently, letting Whizzer fall back against him. "Hey, it's okay, let's get you back to bed.." He hummed, combing his hands through the sweaty locks. The younger man shook his head and leaned forward to throw up one more time, panting in exhaustion.

"Do you want me to stay home from work today? I'd be more than happy-" "shush... just..." Whizzer let out a little whine and fell back against him, weakly wiping his mouth with some toilet paper and swiping at the flush handle. Marvin snickered and flushed it for him, letting Whizzer curl into him. "Y'know we'd probably be more comfortable in the bed." "Cold..." "you're cold?" "No, this cold... feels nice." He mumbled, patting the tile of the bathroom floor. 

Marvin rolled his eyes at how childish he was acting but smiled none the less, gently combing his hands through his hair, humming a simple tune to calm him down. Eventually they both had the strength to shuffle back to bed, Marvin getting ready for work and admiring the other as he slept. 

Whizzer slept hard, and didn't end up crawling out of bed 'til about 11, finding himself oddly attracted to one of Marvin's hoodies and a pair of old way-too-loose jeans. He begrudgingly brewed a coffee when he heard a knock at the door, finding Charlotte on the other side. "Hi, come in, sorry I'm not more... put together." He said with a wary shrug. 

"No I wouldn't expect you to be. I just stopped by on my lunch break to see how you were doing." "Lunch break?" Whizzer looked at the clock and blushed. God he needed a stable job... "I also have some news, I ran the blood test, and um..." she sighed. She was so good with patients, maybe not so much with friend-patients. 

Whizzer sat on the couch, patting the space next to him. "I assume you already know your reproductive status, as a well..." Whizzer's eyes widened. "...a carrier?" "In laymen's terms, yes. Um well there was a lot of hCG in your blood stream and well, you're pregnant." Whizzer nodded and looked at the floor, he knew that was coming the second she started talking about his reproductive bits. 

"Are you okay?" She asked softly, grabbing his hand. He flinched but nodded again, taking a deep breath. "Do you know how long...?" "Um the levels would indicate about 6-8 weeks, 2-4 weeks since conception. We can do more precise tests later." Whizzer leaned back on the couch, staring straight ahead. "Okay... that's... yeah." "Are you gonna be alright here by yourself? I figured I should tell you when you were alone but now it doesn't seem like the best idea." 

He stood up with a sudden energy and shook his head, "no, thank you for telling me. This is my information..." he sighed and almost smiled a little. "Cordelia can come over..." "No! No one... no one knows but us okay?" He snapped, staring her down. "Just... for now." Charlotte nodded and sighed, standing up and giving him a hug, telling him to schedule an appointment at the hospital and rubbing his shoulder. 

Whizzer was soon left alone with himself and his thoughts. Christ, he was pregnant. It could be worse he supposed, but at the moment this seemed pretty bad. Good thing he loved Marvin, because this would bond them for life. Oh god what was Marvin going to say? Or Jason or Trina or- Deep breaths... stay calm. 

What if Marvin kicks him out again? Hell he kicked him out because a goddamn chess game was the last straw. How would he react to a baby? How did he react to Trina having Jason? What if he was just pretending to be all gentle and affectionate? A million questions rattled around so fast he hadn't realized he had begun to cry. 

He shuffled back over to the couch and flopped down. Ugh... he was gonna get fat too. He sighed and slowly placed a hand on his lower stomach. Was there anything? He could kind of feel something, but maybe he was going crazy. It was kind of round and tight... it was a very tiny, flea sized being that shared DNA. 

Whizzer once again fell asleep on the couch.

His dreams were fitful to say the least, his brain was doing its best to process the information, but it kept playing back horrible things, like a demonic VCR player. It began with the top 10 greatest hits collection of his and Marvin's fights. Marvin yelling at him, Trina mumbling things under her breath, Jason's reaction to meeting him for the first time, and then thinking about all the possible outcomes:

Marvin's face being shattered for a moment before a false smile was quickly put on it, Jason's blunt dissatisfaction, Trina freaking out in frustration. He could hear Marvin shouting at him: "Whizzer you whore! Whizzer get out! Whizzer! Whizzer!" 

"Whizzer!" Marvin shouted, shaking his shoulders and he was met with wide panicked eyes. "You were having a nightmare on the couch." The younger man sat up and panted a bit, "more like a fever dream." He caught his breath after a minute, sucking the tears back in.

"Do you want to talk about-" "No! ...No, sorry I just... I don't want to think about it." He mumbled, stepping away and into the kitchen, calming down. Marvin nodded softly and kissed his cheek. "Did you throw up after I left?" "No.." he smiled and kissed his lips, hands moving around his waist. "Maaaarv stop I don't want to get you sick." He chuckled and looked away. He laughed internally, 'I don't think this is exactly contagious.' 

"Do we have anything for dinner?" "Shit I slept through it. I was supposed to get-" "Hey, it's fine alright? Maybe we can get take out." Whizzer nodded and sent a small smile. "I can't exactly leave the house looking like this." "We'll call then." 

Whizzer sighed and looked away, maybe this was a good sign, he wouldn't have to be a miserable housewife like his mother. 

"Oh! I also stopped at CVS, I got some Pepto, some Tums, NyQuil, cough drops and nasal spray. Best flu care package a man can buy." Whizzer smiled over at him, god he was in love with this man. "Babe? Are you crying?" Marvin asked with a little laugh. "Heh? No! I'm fine, probably from the yawn." "Alright come here ya softie." Whizzer wiped his cheeks and smiled, leaning into Marvin's hug. Maybe it'd be okay. 

——

Whizzer had never considered himself the jealous type. Since, not to brag, he had always been the more attractive one in his relationships, he had never had a reason to be jealous. He had always thought Marvin was being silly when he would grip his hip extra tight if he saw someone's eyes on him. But now he got it. 

They had gone out to a bar nearby, one that was loud and proud and not subtle in the slightest. It was one of Whizzer's favorites and Marvin was traumatized the first time he had dragged him there over two years ago. The couple had grown to love it though, since some good old fashioned PDA was needed once in while. 

Once they were there, Whizzer quickly jumped to get the drinks, walking to the bartender and whispering in his ear his dilemma. The bartender nodded and handed him a scotch and some ice water in a vodka tonic glass. Whizzer thanked him with a tip and a wink, returning to the table. After getting Marvin liquored up and pretending to be slightly tipsy himself they hit the dance floor, Whizzer trying to avoid the paranoia that ensued whenever Marvin's fingers got too close to his stomach. 

To avoid this he mostly danced facing him, swaying his hips and curling his fingers around his lover's neck and collar. After a while they were both worn down, Whizzer honestly wanting to take a nap right at their booth. He had gone to get two more drinks and when he returned he saw some goddamn little college aged twink slide into his seat. Whizzer quickly approached and towered over him, "you're in my seat." He said, words coated with such iciness it made Marvin shiver. 

"Sorry, jeez bitch." He said with a sigh, getting up and moving on. Whizzer didn't even return to his seat, instead sitting on Marvin's side of the booth and immediately sucking face. Marvin laughed a little when Whizzer pulled away. "Someone's jealous." "I'm not jealous! He just- ugh, I don't have to defend myself!" "Alright babe." He said with a laugh, rubbing his back slightly. Whizzer frowned at his behavior. He had never been so jealous or possessive before... it was probably just the baby fucking with his brain again. No one would get the chance to flirt with the father of his child, he knew that for a fact. 

——

"Jason, come on buddy it's already 10." Whizzer hummed, opening the door to his bedroom, leaving out that he only woke up ten minutes ago. Two weeks after receiving the news and he was surprised at how well he was handling it, so long as he didn't think about the fact that he'd have to tell people at some point, and that in 7-8 months there'd be a small child in his arms.

Even more than Marvin, he was nervous about Jason's reaction. The kid had finally started to consider him a parent and not a home-wrecker. However, there was an undeniable fact that Jason liked to be the center of attention, and a little half-sibling might not go over so well. 

Whizzer smiled from the kitchen as Jason finally emerged and he asked the generic questions, what he wanted for breakfast, how his first few weeks of school were going, how the Bar Mitzvah planning was going. He cracked the eggs into the pan and began to stir, doing his best not to throw up. He used to love a good egg in the morning, but now the mere scent of it made him nauseous. And looking at it glooping around in the pan... ugh.

"Mendel keeps saying how it's all a load of crap, and I should just have a normal birthday party, but Mom keeps saying- Whizzer are you okay?" He asked, looking up from biting his nails. He looked pale and weird and like he was about to- never mind he is. Jason hopped down from his chair and jogged over, rubbing his back like his mom would do when he got sick. 

Jason repeated the question, "are you okay?" "Yeah Jase, I'm fine, just the smell of the eggs kind of makes my stomach upset." He said with a shaky laugh, wiping his mouth with a dish towel and washing it down the sink. "Have you thrown up a lot?" "Yes Jason just... please don't tell your dad." "Why not?" "I don't want to worry him." He nodded and returned to his seat, giggling as Whizzer cursed at having burned the eggs. 

"I don't want eggs anymore it's okay." "Jason it's fine I'll live through making you eggs." "What doesn't make you sick?" "Um..." he really had to think about that. "Toast?" "Toast is fine." "Jason that's hardly breakfast for a growing boy." "Then put jam on it." Whizzer chuckled and ruffled the floppy curls of hair. 

"Why is stuff making you sick, like why eggs?" "I really don't know." He answered succinctly, turning away and grabbing the bread. "Well you should go to the doctor then, duh." The man laughed and sighed, "no like, I know what's wrong with me, I just don't know why certain foods and smells make me sick. I was on the bus yesterday and I had to get out because a lady's perfume was so strong I had to throw up." 

"Oh! Like mom when she was pregnant with me." Whizzer's back tensed up and he tried to feign a smile and laugh, turning around from the toaster. "What?" "She told me a story really similar to that. She went to a movie with dad and the popcorn smell was so strong she threw up." Whizzer laughed and nodded, looking at the stove clock. When would Marvin be back from the grocery store again? There's a grease spot on the stove that looks mighty interesting.

Jason squinted his eyes, scanning him up and down. Avoiding eye contact, weird laughter, his muscles were tense, "Whizzer are you pregnant?" He tensed more and kind of jolted, laughing more and shaking his head, "What? No! Jason don't be ridiculous!" He smiled and almost had a heart attack at the sound of the toast popping. "See breakfast is ready, no reason to worry." He hummed, his heart pounding out of his chest. 

Jason would've laughed if he wasn't so concerned. He had that same wild, tense look his Mom had when she was about to start freaking out and/or crying. "Whizzer-" "Jason, you're a smart kid, a really smart kid, just... please don't tell your dad." He begged, placing a hand on his lower stomach.

"Don't tell your dad what?" Marvin asked with a chuckle, opening the door with a few bags in his hand. "Oh um.." Jason kicked his legs a little and looked away. 'Oh god please kid... don't break.' "Come on kiddo you can tell me." Marvin said, leaning on the other side of the counter. "Well, there's this girl at school..." 

Whizzer could almost cry he was so relieved. Was he crying? No, no, in the clear. "Well if there's anyone who knows anything about girl problems it's me." Marvin said jokingly, kissing Whizzer's cheek. "Well dad your problem was not liking girls, my problem is liking them. I'm not sure how much help you'll be." Whizzer laughed and calmed down a little, serving him the toast and leaving to get on nicer clothes. 

——

Whizzer was walking with him to the park later that afternoon, backpack full of baseball equipment. He was determined to make this kid somewhat good. "Whizzer?" "Yeah?" "What's it like to be pregnant?" God this kid needed to develop a better filter. He let out a small gasping laugh and sighed, "I'm not sure, that's a better question for your mom, who you can't tell either, or Mendel, or Cordelia." "Does anyone know besides me?" "You and Charlotte." The 12 year old proceeded to do a small happy dance, he was let in on a secret! Woo! 

"Anyway, your mom would know more, she's actually been through the whole thing. I've only had about a month and a half to experience it." "But that's awkwaaaaard! You aren't!" Whizzer rolled his eyes and smiled, "Well, so far, my back hurts, I sleep way too much and when I'm not sleeping I'm either throwing up, nauseous, dizzy or eating." "That sucks." "Yeah it kinda does," he chuckled and set the bag down on the grass, taking everything out. 

"Should you be playing baseball?" "I'm fine Jason." "Well Dad said you passed out at racquetball." "I didn't completely pass out, he's being overdramatic." Jason shrugged and sighed, getting on his pitchers mitt. "Was it on purpose?" Whizzer almost choked on his own tongue, nervously laughing. "Uhh no not really. I'm not upset about it though." He sighed and stood up, grabbing the small grocery bag of baseballs and walking to the edge. "Now let's play some baseball." 

Despite Whizzer's best efforts, the practice still ended up becoming a Q&A for a curious 12 year old taking sex ed next year. "In a way you're helping me because I'll know more than other kids in advance and get better grades!" "Sure Jason."

——

Whizzer spat into the toilet bowl and groaned. It was disgusting how it had gotten so routine at this point, he brushed his teeth and reached for the pomade when he heard the phone ring in the kitchen. He sighed and abandoned his hair care to grab the hunk of jingling plastic. "Hello?" "Is this Jason Cohen's father?" Whizzer raised and eyebrow before realizing it was probably the school. He coughed and deepened his voice slightly, doing his best Marvin impression. "Uh yes why?" 

"Jason got into a fight at school and needs to be picked up. Please get here as soon as you can." Jesus, as if he wasn't nauseous enough already. "Yes of course, I'll get there as soon as possible." 

Going on a long walk to Jason's school first thing in the morning wasn't exactly his ideal. He could already feel a headache starting to form as he walked into the building, seeing Jason in the principals office, knees drawn up to his face, shoulders shaking with sobs. Poor kid, got his father's temper and mother's emotions. 

"Are you Jason's father?" The secretary asked. "Yes, now what happened?" "The principal is in his office with the other boy and his parent. You two can go in now." 

Whizzer sighed and looked at Jason, who seemed slightly relieved that it was Whizzer and not his dad. Whizzer slipped his sunglasses into his collar and sat down on the chairs that were way to short and kind of made his legs go all over the place. "Mr. Cohen," ooh he liked the sound of that. "Your son attacked another student unprovoked during recess, care to explain yourself Jason?" 

He sniffled and tightened his lips, aww he looked just like Marvin when he was mad. "It wasn't unprovoked Mr. Stephenson! He called me a-a..." Jason looked at the adults in the room, unsure whether he should actually say the words. "Well, he called my dad a faggot and then me, and then called me a kike!" Whizzer's eyes widened and he looked at the other boy who was looking way too innocent and sad. He wanted to choke him out himself. Okay, chill out, hormones talking, not you. 

"Physical violence is no way to respond to school yard taunts Jason." Whizzer gaped, "school yard taunts?! I wouldn't consider violent slurs a taunt sir! If someone said that to me at work I could have them fired! He did the right thing, he defended himself!" The other parent scoffed, "oh please, it wasn't anything serious." "Well I guess he had to learn that kind of Nazi hate speech from somewhere." Whizzer sneered, hands tightening on the handles of the chair. 

"Parents, please. Be civil, now what Patrick said was wrong, but you should tell a teacher and not resort to violence Jason." "Don't talk to me like I'm five! And the teachers here clearly don't care anyways!" Whizzer flicked the back of his neck, giving him a small look. No need to dig himself deeper into the hole. "You're a seventh grader now, if you want me to treat you maturely you have to act mature." The principal said, sighing and looking to the parents. "Both of your sons will be suspended for three days." 

Whizzer inhaled and sighed, explaining that to Trina will be fun. 

As they left the school, Jason looked down at his shoes, still clearly upset. Barely a month into the school year and things already seem to be getting tough for the kid. "Now look, I'm not condoning fighting, but you did the right thing- just maybe next time fight with your words okay?" Jason nodded a little and sighed, "will you tell dad?" "Since when have I been good about telling your father things?" "Good point." "Do you want ice cream? I've been craving some all morning, and it might help that swollen lip you got there." Jason perked up and nodded vigorously. Whizzer laughed and patted his shoulder, walking to the nearest shop. 

——

Whizzer yawned and did his best to enjoy a morning nausea free. He cuddled up to Marvin as he made their morning coffee, kissing at his neck and generally letting his hormones get the best of him. "We haven't screwed in the morning in sooo long Marv... it'll be nice." "I'm already dressed for work Whizzer, you should've caught me earlier." He pouted softly and huffed, still running his hands all over him. "Gosh your incredibly attractive boyfriend is horny, what a horrible problem to face." He groaned sarcastically, grabbing his toast. 

Marvin reached up into the medicine cabinet for his prescription which was normally on the counter but Whizzer had to go into one of his cleaning frenzies yesterday. "Huh, Folic Acid? I haven't seen this stuff since Trina was pregnant with Jason." Whizzer froze stiff and caught himself quickly, "I heard it's good for your hair." He said casually, shrugging and taking a bite of his toast. 

Marvin playfully rolled his eyes and grabbed his meds, closing the cabinet and Whizzer almost let out a very suspicious sigh of relief, lest he see the rest of the suspiciously prenatal themed vitamins in the cabinet. Whizzer managed to calm down somewhat and leaned over the kitchen island with a magazine, flipping through casually. Marvin came up from behind him to kiss him goodbye and rested his hands around his hips, sliding gently towards his stomach. The taller man panicked and quickly spun around, kissing him goodbye. 

He was confused but left without much of a comment. The second he stepped out the door Whizzer got into full panic attack mode. "Oh my god oh my god oh fuck." He breathed, pacing around the apartment. He knew! He knew and he was pissed! He'd see the suitcase by the door when Marvin got home. After a few tears spilled over and he knew Marvin would be out of the building he ran over to Charlotte's apartment, since he knew Delia was out of town. He banged on the door and was met with a confused and sleepy Charlotte, who raised an eyebrow upon his self-invitation into the apartment. 

"Charlotte! I don't know what to do!" He sobbed, hyperventilating and holding his hands in his hair. "Whizzer what?" "He- He-!" Whizzer exclaimed, hardly able to breathe enough to form a sentence. "Hey, calm down okay? Breathe with me, in the nose, out the mouth." Whizzer did as instructed and calmed down just enough so he could speak. "I think Marvin knows! I'm fucked! He- he saw my vitamins because I just had to be a dumb bitch and clean the house yesterday and put his pills away!" He explained, hating himself. 

"And then- and then he p-put his hands near my stomach, like he was trying to feel for something! I think he knows oh god Charlotte what do I do?! He's going to hate me for not telling him!" He asked in a panic, tears streaming down his face. God it was way too early in the morning for her to handle this, but she'll do her best. 

"Look, Marvin's a smart guy, but he can be pretty dense sometimes, and you know he's blunt. If he had suspicions he would just ask you, though he should know by now anyways." She reminded him, raising an eyebrow. "I know... I need to tell him. I'm just freaking out, I'm so scared, what if he kicks me out again or treats me like shit again?" "Then we'll kick the shit out of him together." Charlotte reminded him, rubbing his back softly. 

The man laughed weakly and nodded, looking over at her and did his best to calm down. "Do you want some tea?" "Yes please..." "No caffeine." "Yes doctor." He said, smiling and watched as she made him some decaffeinated tea to calm down. 

——

They were getting better at family gatherings that didn't end in screaming matches, Trina and Cordelia would cook, Trina would attempt to teach Whizzer how to cook anything so they didn't die with a blood stream full of microwave dinners, and Mendel, Marvin and Charlotte would attempt at making Jason decent at any sport in the backyard. 

It was a good monthly routine, and normally it was a pleasant experience, but Whizzer was as tense as ever. If he dressed like an average person it would be difficult to tell, but this was the only time he had verbally damned his closet of skin tight shirts. The light blue polo wasn't hiding much, and his lower stomach was definitely starting to round out. The sweater around his hips wasn't doing much to deter. 

Charlotte kept throwing him glances, testing the waters to try and see if anyone but Whizzer knew yet. She trusted him to tell in his own time and she couldn't breach patient confidentiality, but the secrecy was getting on her nerves. During quiet moments she frequently asked about his symptoms and if he'd been taking the vitamins she recommended, and he would desperately try and avoid the subject. 

"Look buddy, you don't have long, if you were some stranger sitting in my waiting room I would've sized you up in two seconds." "I-I know I just need a little more time, you've never had to do this, it's terrifying! I finally got them to stop thinking I'm some gold digging floosy, they're going to think I'm a trap!" He stressed, starting to panic. 

"Hey, I'm not a therapist, I don't have the answers for your mental qualms, but I know you have to tell them soon. They're going to catch on." She said, looking around to see if anyone was nearby. The doctor sighed and patted his chest reassuringly, the taller man responding with a wince, a hand moving to cover his chest. "Ow fuck." "You didn't tell me about that symptom!" She whispered, furrowing her eyebrows. He blushed and looked away, rubbing his neck. 

After a minute they both separated inconspicuously, Whizzer floated back around to the kitchen, looking at Trina, biting his lip and then when she caught him staring he'd look away. This happened once more before she sighed and set down the knife on the table, "What is it Whizzer?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "Nothing, sorry- daydreaming." He excused, swallowing and looking down at the sink, washing cooking utensils and attempting to make himself useful. 

After a minute more of silence he sighed, "Trina, how did Marvin react when you told him you were pregnant?" She blinked and looked up and over at him, giving him a confused expression. "I-I'm just curious." He smiled for a second before losing it and turning back to the dishes. "You don't have to-" 

"Well, we had been dating for a little over two years. It was bad timing. We were both still in college at that point. I came home from the doctors office and told him immediately. He wasn't exactly happy, but neither was I. I'm sure it made him feel trapped in someway. We fought for a bit and then we told our parents and well.. my father threatened to disown me if I didn't marry him. It's not like it is now, it was the sixties, and my family was very conservative. So we married- Marvin seemed happy, though I'm sure it was just because he got to check two boxes off on his Straight Man Life list." She sighed and turned back to the food. 

Whizzer swallowed and nodded. Oh god, that didn't exactly calm any fears. "Is my assumption correct as to why you're asking this?" She turned to look at him, his eyes strongly focused on the colander, tears welling up in them. "Huh? No! No I was just wondering, y'know, just a tidbit I hadn't heard about yet." He shrugged and inhaled deeply, blinking the tears back. She never really liked him, but it was visible he was on the edge. She pried the colander from his hands (which took quite a bit of strength on her part) and looked up at him. "Does anyone know?" He shook his head, scared that if he talked more he'd start crying. 

Trina dramatically sighed and pulled him towards the bedroom for some privacy. "Y'know I knew something was off when you got here, you don't have your regular annoying energy. And you've used the bathroom twice already." She chuckled and sighed, shaking her head. She played with her necklace and turned around to find Whizzer on the bed with his head in his hands. Trina pulled his hands away and sighed, handing him a handkerchief. 

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I didn't do this on purpose I swear! God and I thought I was a home-wrecker before... I-I'm not trying to trap him or anything, I wouldn't do that, it was an accident. I'm not trying to do anything malicious, I'm just really scared." He rambled. God he hated crying, these pathetic displays of emotion.

"Jeez, just come here, you'll be okay." She pulled him into a hug and let him cry against her for a minute or two before speaking again. "Come on, it's sickening how much he loves you. He's going to love this." "He didn't love it the first time! What if he kicks me out again? Or we get in a huge fight, we've been so good about not fighting, and I'm so goddamn tired I'm not sure I can take it." She chuckled a little and patted his back. "Welcome to motherhood. You'll get through it, I did and I was married to a man that didn't love me and I had half the mental stability you have. You'll be alright." 

Whizzer nodded and smiled at her, sniffling and straightening his back, "thank you." He stood up and hugged her, wiping his eyes and heading back to the kitchen. They finished the food, making idle chatter, Trina stealing not so subtle glances at Whizzer's stomach, raising an eyebrow and asking silent questions. Cordelia plated the food and set the table, bouncing around the kitchen.

"Food's on!" Trina shouted outside, everyone hustling in. Whizzer smiled and kissed Marvin's cheek, "it looks good." "I know I'm starving!" The taller man smiled and pulled out his chair. "You don't look like you're starving," Mendel teased with a grin, doing his best to not pull a face as Trina jammed her heel into his foot under the table. He was confused, normally she'd appreciate a good jab at Whizzer's expense. 

Whizzer laughed uncomfortably, "Yeah I guess racquetball does little to conquer settling down weight." He coughed a little and poured himself some water. "No wine babe?" "My stomach's a little upset- wouldn't want to test it.." "You just said you were starving." Whizzer rolled his eyes and turned to other conversation at the table. 

Marvin frowned and looked at Charlotte, who caught his eye and immediately looked away. "Okay what the hell are you guys not telling me?" He asked, starting to get a little peeved. "Jeez Marvin relax.." Whizzer hummed, grabbing his hand. "No! I'm sick of it. All I've heard is little whisperings behind my back for weeks! What am I missing?" "Marvin calm down there's no big conspiracy against you-" Trina tried to assure him. "I'm not stupid alright?" He stood up at the table, his face all wound up and tight like right before... the incident. 

Whizzer gulped and tried again. "Baby come on nothing is going on." He hummed, rubbing his arm gently. Marvin threw his arm away, his hand missing Whizzer's face by inches. "No! You don't say shit! You're behind all of this I know it. You're keeping something from me! What are you cheating on me? What is everyone else in on that I'm not?!" 

Whizzer paused for a second. There's no other way to deescalate this. Give him what he wanted. Whizzer stood up too, glaring in his face. "Fine! You wanna know what the big fucking secret is?!" "Yes! That's all I want is that so hard to understand?!" "I'm Pregnant!" Whizzer shouted, still fired up and panting a little. He immediately regretted his decision as the realization hit him.

Marvin's face instantly fell, his eyebrows raising and temper dissipating. "What did you just say?" Whizzer looked at him, his words catching in his throat and he scanned the room in a panic, oh god what did he just do? Oh god. He sprinted out of the house through the front door, running as fast as his long legs could carry him for about a block. What did he just do? He yelled at Marvin, and on top of all of this, he spat what was supposed to be a happy announcement in his face! He was probably storming after him right now..

Marvin stood frozen in the room, and the others who weren't in the know previously were also slightly frozen. "Did he say pregnant?" Mendel asked, gaping at the spot where Whizzer had been. Marvin nodded a little bit, trying to process everything. "What are you doing?! Go after him!" Jason shouted, throwing his hands up. Marvin blinked and nodded, running out the door after him. 

He wasn't exactly hard to spot, the bright blue shirt sticking out like a sore thumb in the distance. Marvin ran over and looked at Whizzer, sighing sadly. "Whiz-" The other man startled and jumped, looking at him with fear and tears in his eyes. He was leaning up against a tree, arm around his waist. "Hey are you okay?" "Just a stomach cramp..." Whizzer mumbled, swallowing and shifting away as Marvin reached for him. 

"Whizzer..." Marvin searched for his words for a moment. "Are you really... you weren't just fucking with me?" He nodded softly, letting out a small sob. "Oh Honey- Come here." He said softly, pulling him in for a hug and a gentle kiss on the cheek. "I'm so sorry..." "What? Don't be sorry! This is amazing, holy shit, you're pregnant, oh my god..." The taller man pulled away with a confused expression, wiping his cheeks. "You're not mad?" "What?! Of course not! This is amazing!" 

Whizzer grinned genuinely for the first time in what felt like years. He laughed a little bit and was pulled into another hug and a kiss, the couple slowly walking back to the house. When they walked in they were almost sent to the floor by a flying Cordelia. "Oh my god a baby! This is amazing!" She cheered, holding them both close. They laughed a little and Whizzer smiled, glad that the others were just as excited. They all made their way back to the table, returning to the food and the conversation, which was now mostly questioned directed at the couple of the hour.

After everything was cleaned up and the conversation lulled, they moved to the living room. Marvin smiled down at Whizzer, whose head was resting on his shoulder. He gently tried to steer the conversation away from the announcement and onto the Bar Mitzvah and this asshole that dinged his car the other day, since he could tell his lover was getting exhausted of answering questions, and exhausted in general. About 10 minutes after the conversation changed he was pretty sure the other was fast asleep. 

"Maybe we should get going. He's out like a light." Marvin hummed, gently shouldering Whizzer's head, whose eyes slanted open for a second and he mumbled out "Yeah that guy was an asshole..." They all quietly chuckled and Marvin brought Whizzer out to the car, giving their neighbors a ride in the back. 

After a few minutes of the drive back Cordelia perked up, "Are you excited Marv?" "Yeah of course, that was just not the outcome I predicted from that." "My bet was on Whizzer kneeing you in the balls." Charlotte added. Marvin laughed and nodded, "I probably deserved it too. I just wish I understood why he didn't tell me sooner." "That's a scary thing to tell someone." Cordelia said, shrugging and leaning back. "I love Charlotte and if something like this happened I think I'd be nervous too." 

Marvin nodded and looked over at his lover. He placed a lock of hair behind his ear and smiled. "Marvin's in looooooove." The blonde cooed, smiling wide. "You bet." He chuckled and parked outside the apartment building, getting out of the car and gently shaking Whizzer awake. "Come on baby, it's just two flights of stairs." He whined but conceded to walking to their floor. They waved the lesbians a good night and Whizzer was stripping on his walk to the bedroom, eventually flopping on the bed. 

Marvin laughed and stripped down himself, crawling in next to him. "Hey? You awake?" "Technically." He sighed, turning towards him. "I just want you to know how happy I am, and you shouldn't be afraid to tell me anything, and I'm sorry for losing my cool at the dinner and-" "Hey, shh.. you're fine okay? It's all okay. That wasn't exactly how I had dreamed of telling you but it's fine." Whizzer assures him, kissing him slowly. 

"How were you going to tell me?" "Well I'd wait until after Jason's Bar Mitzvah and maybe go out to dinner or something." "The Bar Mitzvah's not for another month!" "I didn't want to put too much on your plate..." "Oh Christ Whizzer, you're fine. I wouldn't have wanted you to wait any longer than you already have, going through all this in silence, without someone to rub your back and buy you ice packs." "I forgot you've already been through all of this." "Oh yeah, I know all the ropes." 

They laughed tiredly and cuddled closer. "Can I feel it?" Marvin asked with a grin. Whizzer rolled his eyes dramatically and nodded, "fine ya dork." He laid down on his back and lowered the blankets down to his hips. 

Marvin cupped his hand over the slight bump and smiled wide, almost gasping a little. "I can't believe it." "Well believe it because it's going to be another round of diapers and feedings and burpings-" "shhh let me enjoy this okay?" They both let out a chuckle and Marvin continued feeling around. They finally fell asleep after awhile, both of their hands protectively cupping the bump.

——

Marvin woke up to his alarm, sighing and sitting up in bed, smiling over at Whizzer who was still dead asleep. He had been sleeping like a rock the past few days, well, possibly weeks, but Marvin hadn't noticed until now. 

God he was gorgeous, his hair was all over the place but still so full and shiny, and his face was so peaceful. He could hardly explain how much he loved this man. He kissed his cheek gently and walked out of the bedroom, taking a shower before work. 

He returned and found Whizzer sitting on the edge of the bed, rolling up the sleeves on his favorite button up. He chuckled to himself a little bit at how the bump had begun to round out the zipper of his pants. "What are you doing all dressed up this early in the morning?" "Doctor's appointment." "What?" Whizzer looked at him and furrowed his eyebrows, slowing down his speech. "I have a doctor's appointment. For the baby. That is currently in my uterus." "No no yeah I got that part, why didn't you tell me?" 

Whizzer shrugged a little, "I dunno, you have work, it's just a doctors appointment." "Were you not going to include me in this at all?" He snapped, hands resting on his hips in an offended gesture he had stolen from his partner. "Can we not fight this early in the morning Marvin? Please." He sighed and grabbed his shoes, blushing a little as he realized bending straight over wasn't the option it once had been. 

Marvin rubbed his face and sighed, grabbing some underwear and an undershirt. "Whizzer... I know you've had to do a lot on your own these past few months, but it's my baby too. I'm not going to let my pregnant lover take some dirty train and go to their doctor's appointment alone." Whizzer looked down and sighed, okay now he definitely felt bad. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking- I don't know. Of course you can come I just figured you didn't want to or be... seen." He stressed, running a hand down his face and looking over at him. 

This was what Whizzer was worried about with this... Marvin was still very closeted socially, never any pda, or touching of any kind. As far as the strangers of New York knew they were coworkers. To Marvin's social circle and neighborhood parents Whizzer was the Other Woman- man technically. It was like knocking up the maid, what if Marvin was still ashamed of it, of him?

Marvin scoffed a little bit and stood in front of where he sat on the bed, holding his shoulders and smiling broadly, "of course I want to go, and I could care less about being seen. I love you, and this baby so much. You need to know that." Whizzer looked up at him with a watery smile, swallowing the lump in his throat. "God Marvin it's like you're trying to make me cry." He huffed, wiping his thumb under his eye. "Maybe I have a little bit of fun messing around with your hormones." "Asshole." He huffed, kissing him softly and standing up, walking towards the kitchen. 

"I'll call into work, get dressed then we can go." "Well it's not for another hour and a half but I got ready early because I thought I'd be taking the train." Marvin nodded and sighed. God, smart and handsome, he was so love struck, or maybe Whizzer was producing some hypnotizing pregnancy pheromone. The end result was the same either way. Whizzer chuckled at his expression and turned on the coffee machine. "I'm judging your outfit before we go, you're not making a fool of me around bitchy, judgmental, pregnant women." "Of course."

Marvin walked into the kitchen, wearing the dad sweater he knew Whizzer liked. He smiled and nodded a little, walking over and folding his shirt collar over the sweater and kissing his lips. "Perfect." Marvin chuckled and followed him into the kitchen, kissing his cheek and grabbing the phone, dialing his office. "Hey Sal, I'm not going to come in today, I just remembered I have a doctors appointment I totally forgot about, yeah... yeah sorry for the short notice. Yeah. Thanks. I'll be in tomorrow, have a good day, bye." He said, hanging up the phone and returning to his lover. 

He wrapped his arms around him, kissing gently at the back of the taller man's neck. "Maaarvin." He whined a little, still trying to move around and make breakfast. "Sorry sorry." He hummed, moving away and sitting on the counter, pouring his own cup of coffee. He leaned over and cracked open the window, letting the cool October air fill the space. They moved around in silence for a minute or so, Whizzer breaking it with a laugh as he caught Marvin's dopey expression. 

"Did you smoke some pot in the shower or what?" "No, you're just pretty... handsome." He said, catching himself and clearing his throat, remembering Mendel's advise to not use diminutives. Whizzer laughed again and shook his head. "You're glowing in the sunlight." He rolled his eyes and gave him a look. "Really, you are. Your face is glowing, your hair is all thick and shiny and your bump is adorable." He commented, hopping off the counter and pressing a kiss to his cheek. 

"Do you not believe me?" "Let's just say confidence is hard to muster when you just struggled to tie your shoes." "Oh come on, you're beautiful, you should be on the cover of some doctor's office pregnancy magazine." Whizzer snorted and laughed, kissing him softly. "I'm already having sex and living with you Marvin flattery won't get you anywhere else." "It's not flattery, it's admiration." He could tell he made the other man budge by the way he looked to the side and blushed. 

"Well... thank you." "There we go. Now let's get some food in you." He said, opening the fridge. He grabbed the carton of eggs and Whizzer pressed his lips into a line. He nodded and returned the carton, grabbing the cream cheese for some bagels. Whizzer nodded a bit and Marvin smiled with a little laugh, kissing his cheek. 

After breakfast they hopped in the car and Whizzer gave him directions to the OB's office, still chewing on his second 'to go' bagel. He eventually found a spot for his car and walked in with Whizzer, who he felt immediately tense up. It was awkward when the normally extremely confident (if not arrogant) man recessed into himself and Marvin had to be the outgoing one. It had only happened a few times before, but the way he saw Whizzer keep eye contact with the carpeting made him think it would become a much more common experience. 

"Appointment for William Brown?" Whizzer said softly to the receptionist who in her defense had done her best to lessen the shocked look on her face. "Yes, 10 o'clock?" He nodded. "Alright, just have a seat in the waiting room and a nurse will be out shortly." Whizzer nodded and sat down on the chairs with Marvin, keeping his legs and arms crossed low on his body, gently leaning his head on Marvin's shoulder. 

Marvin scanned the room, looking at other mothers, fathers and children in the waiting room. There was a small play corner with a few babies and toddlers, the older kids sitting with their parents. There was one extremely young couple that Marvin felt bad for, having been in that position himself over a decade ago. People were looking at them, but the second he looked back they pretended as if they were looking at the wall behind them or at their magazine. Except for one father, who kept a violent glare aimed at Marvin, curling his lip slightly. 

He could feel Whizzer breathing heavily, picking at a hangnail on his thumb. After a very soft "faggots" was heard Whizzer cleared his throat. "I'm going to run to the bathroom." He mumbled with a slight smile, making a beeline for the restroom. Marvin sighed and rubbed at his eyes, following him after a few minutes. He quietly opened the door and heard ragged breaths coming from the handicapped stall. "Baby? Can you open the door?" He asked gently, hearing the gentle click and walking in to see his lover in the midst of what looked like an anxiety attack. 

"We shouldn't- we shouldn't have done this, I should've gotten- gotten-" he stuttered out, trying to catch his breath and hyperventilate. Marvin walked over to him and held him in his arms. "You have a right to healthcare just like those women out there do okay? You're fine. Breathe with me okay?" He said softly, rubbing his back and taking deep breaths in through his nose and out through his mouth. 

Eventually Whizzer calmed down enough to simply hug him tight. "You'll be okay, words can't hurt you. Just think about that guy you 'accidentally' spit on outside the bar that one time." Whizzer laughed a little and sighed, still clinging to him. They walked out of the bathroom, their names being called quickly after. 

The nurse guided them to the room, taking Whizzer's blood pressure, heartbeat, height and weight before leaving. Marvin grabbed his hand and smiled, rubbing his thumb over his knuckles. He made a few small jokes to calm him down, mostly corny dad jokes as they waited for the doctor to come in. "Hello Mr. Brown, good to see you're doing well. And who's this?" "The father, my... partner." Whizzer said with a smile, looking down at him from the bed. "Great! Nice to meet you..." "Marvin." "Marvin, I'm Doctor Siegler, your partner's OBGYN." He nodded and shook her hand. 

"Now how is everything going for mother and baby?" "Good, morning sickness is lightening up a little, my appetite is definitely back. I'm still pretty fatigued though, and cramps are frequent." She nodded softly, smiling at her chart. "Well your weight seems to be just about what we want to see at this stage. Any other more recent developments?" "Um.. more mood swings and um..." he blushed and cleared his throat, looking at Marvin and back to her. "My chest has started to be a lot more sensitive..." he mumbled. 

"No reason to be embarrassed, that's also totally normal. Any fainting or dizzy spells?" "No full fainting or passing out, though sometimes I still get pretty faint and dizzy, like when I'm yelling or stand up to fast." She frowned a bit and bit the tip of her pen. "Is there... a lot of yelling at home?" She asked gently, looking between the two men. "Oh no! Not like that, I mean we fight sometimes but it's mostly at like the tv or something." Whizzer explained quickly. 

She nodded and asked a few more questions before standing up. "Alright, if you could lift your shirt and unzip your pants, we're going to take some measurements and listen to the fetal heartbeat." 

She got on her gloves and ran a quick alcohol pad over her stethoscope, pressing the instrument to his stomach. She smiled and looked at her watch, counting quietly. "Perfectly normal. Would you like to listen?" She asked, gesturing over to Marvin who quickly nodded and stood up. Whizzer smiled as he put the tool in his ears, seeing him smile wide and tear up a bit. "Wow... ah, a kid Whizzer!" He exclaimed, Whizzer nodding back with a large smile. 

Dr. Siegler proceeded to measure around the peak of his belly, and then down from the sternum. "Everything looks in order, now you can change into this gown and we'll do the internal exam." Marvin raised an eyebrow and Whizzer blushed, taking two fingers and jabbing them forward in a subtle motion, quickly making the other man understand. 

Whizzer changed into the gown, awkwardly trying to get onto the bed without exposing himself. The doctor came back in with her tray of tools and he gave a nervous smile to Marvin, holding his hand. She warned him when she was about to insert anything, and Marvin always kept eye contact and talked about something, anything, a work story, a joke he heard, to keep his lover distracted. It was only a few minutes before the exam was over. "Everything looks great, schedule an appointment for next month and you can get your clothes back on." 

On the drive home Whizzer was just exhausted, but he couldn't seem to calm down. "Did it take a lot out of you?" Marvin asked gently, keeping a hand on his back as he watched the other man slowly trudge up the stairs. He nodded and sighed, "I know it was just a doctors appointment but there's so much anxiety that when it's over it's just deflating." He tried to explain, falling back on the couch. "Well, we have the whole day. Let's be lazy." He said with a smile, holding him close on the couch and turned on the tv, flipping to some sitcom. 

Once he was perfectly situated in Marvin's arms, Whizzer was able to relax, and quickly fell asleep against him. Marvin rubbed circles in his back and tried not to feel guilty for making his lover go through this. After all he was the one who forgot to wrap it up. He knew he'd have to move eventually, but for now he just enjoyed the warmth of the other man cuddled against him.

—— 

The time had come for wearing an uncomfortable suit for what felt like 24 hours. Marvin wanted to leave at 9- it was now 9:30 and he was still waiting by the door. "Jesus Whizzer, I've almost gotten through an entire chapter are you almost ready?" He sighed and walked into the bedroom, his lover apparently in the midst of a wrestling match with his zipper. 

"Whizzer.." "I had it tailored professionally! It can't not fit!" He huffed, trying to hold the fabric closed. "You weren't over four months pregnant when you had it tailored though." "I can't have gotten that big! It's fine, it'll fit!" Marvin sighed and looked through his closet. "You could borrow some of my dress pants." "Oh yeah and have the hem go down to the middle of my calf? No thank you." Marvin groaned, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Well... you could wear je-" "I am not wearing fucking jeans to your son's Bar Mitzvah Marvin!" He snapped, giving up and just throwing his body back in defeat. 

Marvin sighed, he did feel bad for him. He pecked his cheek and flipped through the closet, throwing some pants that were probably a little more forgiving on the bed. After some testing they eventually found a pair that fit pretty well. Marvin snuck up behind him in the mirror, placing his hands over the bump. "Are you sure it doesn't show off too much? I don't want it to be that visible.." "You're fine Whizzer, now lets go. Please." Whizzer groaned and rolled his eyes, slipping on his nice shoes and walking out the door. Finally. 

Once they got there it was one chaotic thing after another. Before the guests even arrived the family was exhausted. Once people started flooding in it was easy to get their energy back, greeting guests and family that hadn't visited in ages. Explaining the divorce face to face with Trina's parents was not something he was planning on, but here he was, desperately trying to find Whizzer in the crowd. He eventually did, but the other read the situation quickly and gave a sorry-not-sorry shrug before darting back off. 

He finally got the chance to introduce Whizzer to his own parents. They had been supportive, but distant, and were pleased that at the very least, he was half Jewish. It was a flurry of greeting people and Whizzer trying to avoid prying questions, mainly crossing his arms in front of his stomach and keeping his suit jacket buttoned. 

At the event of the hour, they all stood up on the stage, smiling teary eyed as Jason read the prayer. There was a flurry of hugs and kisses and cake and presents in a row, the last of which Jason was definitely excited for. There was food served, and to Cordelia's pleasure, there were mostly positive faces in the crowd as they ate. She even packed Whizzer a small emergency canister of chicken soup so he wouldn't feel nauseous or guilty for not eating the food. 

Eventually the chaos calmed to a gentle party hum as the family did their rounds of thanking people for their gifts and their presence. Then of course, Marvin's dreaded conversation. 

"Hey Saul! Thanks for coming." He said with a strained smile. "No problem! Great party, good food, congrats to Jason but... between you and me, did you have to include your boytoy in the ceremony?" Marvin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was not going to get arrested at his son's Bar Mitzvah. "Yes Saul I did. He's just as much Whizzer's son as he is mine. He's done a great job stepping into that role." 

Saul sighed and rolled his eyes. "Look I don't need you to get all upset about it. You're queer, I get it, that whole thing was just a little too in my face for my taste." Marvin felt a warm hand clasp from behind him and he smiled. "Why didn't you also have a problem with Mendel being in the ceremony? He isn't technically Jason's father either." "Well it's good for Jason to have Mendel around, you know, have a real man around the house." 

"Excuse Me?! What did you just imply about my boyfriend?" Whizzer snapped, stepping forward and towering over him. If he only had the one intimidation tactic, he'd use it to the best of his ability. "Whizzer, cool down, it's fine, look, just enjoy your damn free food Saul." He huffed, yanking the taller man back and off to the other side of the hall. It definitely took a bit of effort to keep Whizzer's hormone fueled rage from choking the guy out. "Saul's a little more than a jerk. I can't believe he said that about you." "Believe me it took all my strength to not wring his neck for calling you my boytoy." Marvin said, scoffing and doing his best to calm down as well.

They kissed softly as a way to cool off, holding each other close. "God I wish I could call you my husband. Has so much more power than Boyfriend." Marvin laughed a little. "So you want to marry me, not because of our profound love or the tiny person we created, but so you can yell at people and sound cooler." "Exactly." Whizzer laughed and kissed him again, grabbing his hands and trying to find some nicer people to talk too, saying hi to Jason's friends, embarrassing him in front of girls, and bitching to Charlotte and Cordelia about the guests.

In the end, the party was of course a success, but Jason was excited to get his itchy suit off and Trina wanted to burn her Spanx. Eventually it was just them sitting alone in the big hall, swapping stories, eating leftovers, and Trina and Marvin telling embarrassing tales from Jason's youth. (Much to his displeasure.) 

Once they got home everyone wanted to crash, but found they had this buzzing energy left over from the party. Most of them used up that energy in quite an adult manner. 

Whizzer rolled off to the side, panting softly with a smile on his face, Marvin still trailing gentle kisses on his collarbone. He pulled away and grinned, "you're glowing." "It's called sweat." The younger man scoffed, wiping his brow with the discarded dress shirt on the floor. "No like really, you're gorgeous. You're all glowy and happy and plump. It's perfect." "That's just a nice way of calling me fat." Whizzer said, laugh dissipating a little. "I'm... gonna take a shower." "No babe I didn't mean it like that!" 

Whizzer sighed and walked out of the room. Marvin held his head in his hands. Goddammit, they were having a nice moment, and he just had to talk a little too much. He sighed and got out of the bed, pulling some boxers on and following him out. "You know I didn't mean it like that! I meant that you look nice! And healthy!" "I don't want to hear it Marvin!" Whizzer shouted, trying to sound aggressive but Marvin could hear the slight quiver in his voice. 

"I didn't mean to make you upset darling..." "I'm not upset!" He huffed, trying to close the bathroom door. "I can tell that you're crying." "A-as if your words could ever make me cry." He snapped, still trying to hold back the tears. Marvin could tell he had moved away from the door and he moved into the bathroom. "It's okay to cry, you're going to be more emotional, it's something to get used to." "Crying is a waste of time..." "Maybe, but it's okay..." 

"I'm just a fat, crybaby, waste of space..." Marvin tried not to laugh as he consoled him. "Baby no... no! You are not. I never said fat, you're saying that about yourself." "Well it's true. I look disgusting, and I'm starting to get stretch marks!" "That's totally normal, and you look amazing. Just like I said, you're glowing and gorgeous. If I met you for the first time today I would have the same reaction as when I saw you all those years ago as a lonely little closet case." Whizzer laughed a little and wiped his cheeks, sighing and looking over at him. "I love you.." Marvin grinned and held him closer. "I love you too. You'll get through this. I promise." 

——

Marvin cracked his eyes open, a blue haze cracking through the blinds. Couldn't be later than 5 in the morning. He tuned in and found the source of the noise that woke him up, a gentle panting and whimpering. He sat up quietly and jostled the man laying next to him, which resulted in a louder whine of pain. "Whizzer? Are you okay?" All he heard in response was a shuttering breath. He quickly turned the lamp on and Whizzer was curled up on the bed, holding his hips and streaming tears. 

"It hurts so bad..." "is it the baby?!" Marvin asked, oh god was he losing it? "No... it's my hips, not my stomach." He explained, struggling to take shallow breaths. "Your hips?" "It- it feels... fuck... it feels like they're being ripped apart..." 

Marvin got up and moved to the other side of the bed. He had never seen Whizzer in so much pain before and he didn't know what to do. "Should I call the hospital??" "It's normal... it just hurts so bad." He gasped, trying to turn over and look at him, letting out an agonizing groan through clenched teeth. "Don't- well, maybe if you just lay on your back, let me get you some hot pads." Marvin dishes to the kitchen and grabbed the hot water bottles, filling the kettle and putting it on the stove. 

It felt like hours before the bottles were ready, and Marvin slowly laid them on top of his hip bones, gently distributing the weight. At this point, a sleepy Jason walked in, rubbing his eyes. "What's going on?" As he stepped into the room and saw Whizzer he started to panic. "Is he dying?!" Marvin shook his head. "No, he's fine, well- not fine but he'll be okay." He explained, turning back around. 

"Does that feel better?" "A little," Whizzer said, able to calm down enough to talk through it. "Jason I'm gonna be fine, I'm just in a lot of pain right now..." he said. 

Whizzer was completely bedridden for the rest of the day, unable to move without Marvin's help. Jason kept watch from the doorway, a little shaken up by seeing someone he considered so strong in such a weak state. He looked like he was just going to keel over and die any second. Jason's never seen anyone die... but he think they'd look like that. 

Not to say Marvin wasn't freaking out, he definitely was, but he was doing his best to be a rock for Whizzer and his son- practice for the birth he supposed. Whizzer was barely able to think, all that was going through his mind was how much pain he was in. When would it end? 

The next morning after a restless sleep, Whizzer found that the searing pain had reduced to a dull ache. His hips were still adjusting to the baby but not in the same intense way. "Hey sleepyhead, are you feeling better? You're walking at least." Marvin said, smiling at him from kitchen counter. 

Whizzer nodded and smiled, moving over to the kitchen. He reached for the fridge handle until he no longer was, and collapsed onto the floor. Marvin shouted and ran over, picking up his torso and propping him up. He tapped his face a few times and he thankfully woke up quickly. "What happened?" Marvin panted and thanked god, "you fainted... oh my god I was terrified." "Oh no I'm sorry!" Whizzer said, sitting up quickly before getting dizzy and laying back down. 

"Hey hey, you okay?" "I think I'm just underfed, I don't think I ate anything yesterday." Marvin nodded and quickly grabbed the bread loaf from the counter. "Just have a slice or two so I can make you actual breakfast." 

——

Marvin was determined to be a good partner for once. On a lazy Saturday morning he got up bright and early, sneaking right out of the house. Jason was at a sleepover and he wanted to get a few things done before he had to pick him up in the afternoon. He hit a few maternity and baby stores, and made a quick stop at the grocery store before heading home, hands full of bags. He smiled at Whizzer who was leaning against the counter with a cup of coffee. Whizzer chuckled as he threw all the bags on the couch and raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly is all this?" He asked, walking over and sitting down next to everything. 

"It's called taking care of you. We've been so busy rushing around getting ready for the party that your pregnancy was swept aside, which it shouldn't have been." Whizzer continued raising his eyebrow and scoffed, "Marvin jeez, I don't need all of this." "Consider it an early Chanukah gift. And trust me, you will. I'd rather buy it and get it all out of the way than have you shuffle up to me in a few weeks or months all embarrassed asking for stuff." 

The other man shrugged and sighed, fair enough. "So, I got two pints of your favorite ice cream, and some other comfort food items, because I can hear when you sneak out in the middle of the night, even if you think I can't." Whizzer blushed heavily and looked down at the floor, scratching at his neck. Maybe a pastrami sandwich sounded really good at 3 am... "No need to be all embarrassed, it's a part of all of this. I'd just prefer if you'd tell me." "Oh come on, Heavenly Father forgive me for not telling someone who's supposed to find me attractive that I want gummy bears and ranch dressing for lunch." 

Marvin laughed and rolled his eyes, "No shame okay?" "Well the other half of me is catholic all I know is shame." Whizzer joked, shrugging weakly. Marvin sighed and pulled out a few more things, cold compresses, lotion, breast pump and "I just couldn't resist." some baby shoes. 

Whizzer chuckled and looked down at them, "they're so tiny." "Babies tend to be tiny." "These are so goddamn adorable I'm going to be sick." He laughed and set them down on the table. "These... you might not be so excited about." "Oh yeah, because the breast pump just thrilled me." He teased, quickly making a face of disgust as Marvin pulled out the maternity jeans from the bag. 

"No." "Come on, just try it. Your normal pants are cutting into your belly, they don't look comfortable at all." "Fashion isn't supposed to be comfortable." "Well don't come crying to me when the button on your jeans finally pops off and blinds some old lady on the train." The younger man glared and turned back to his coffee. 

"I got some that are slightly less ugly, they're just an elastic waistband, not the huge elastic piece in front. You can't tell if your don't tuck in your shirt." Whizzer scoffed, but grabbed them to examine a little closer. "I also got some polos and button ups that are bigger and stretchier." This caught the other mans attention. He was sick of needing to wear Marvin's hoodies out in public. 

Whizzer sighed and looked through it all, standing up and hugging him tight, kissing him softly on the lips. "Thank you..." "No problem. I want to treat you right, and I know all the gory details, so if you ever need anything just tell me okay?" He nodded and smiled, grabbing his coffee cup and sauntering back to the kitchen. 

"Y'know what I woke up to this morning?" "What? Cordelia's fire alarm going off?" He laughed and shook his head. "No, for once. Actually, it kicked a little this morning." "What? It did?!" Marvin asked, smiling wide and placing his hands on his stomach. "Well it isn't right now. I'm pretty sure it was this morning though. It was all fluttery and light though, so maybe I'm wrong." "Let's just say you're right." He grinned wide and they shared a coffee flavored kiss, beyond content with what lied ahead for them.

——

"Food's on!" Trina called to the living room, and though Whizzer was enjoying watching Marvin lose almost all the contents of his wallet to his son in Driedl in an effort to teach him about gambling, he was definitely more excited about the idea of food. 

"God the soup smells amazing Trin." Whizzer gushed, quickly grabbing his plate. "You hate matzoh ball soup." Marvin said with a soft chuckle, raising an eyebrow. "Well... now I like it, I dunno, ask your unborn heathen." He snapped, blushing a little bit and beginning to stack his plate and fill his bowl with the soup. "Heathen, that's a new descriptor!" Mendel joked with a light laugh, kissing Trina's cheek as a thank you. 

"Whizzer's just upset because it kept him up last night with kicking." Marvin said with a snort, avoiding eye contact as he felt Whizzer glare back at him. "The fact that you haven't stabbed him yet is a miracle." He grumbled quietly to Trina who just laughed and proceeded to glare at Jason to put more veggies on his plate. 

She was going to do her absolute best tonight, she already made the food and step two of this endeavor was being nice to Whizzer. "So how are you doing with everything? At this stage it can definitely start to get uncomfortable." She asked, trying to conjure up as many memories from that horrible time as possible. She sat down with him and did her best to clench her teeth and not smile as she watched the normally suave and charismatic man her ex fell in love with struggle to sit down gracefully in his chair. 

"Ha... well, the nausea has finally lightened up a bit. And now it's just... insane hunger all the time." Whizzer explained, gesturing his hands a little, starting to tear into the bread. "Hunger for what depends on the day." Marvin said, sitting down next to him and winking. Whizzer's eyes blew wide and he hit his bicep lightly, putting a hand on his forehead as he heard Cordelia's giggle from the other side of the table. 

"That... too I guess." He mumbled with a heavy blush, taking an aggressive bite out of the bread. "Well I still have my old books on everything from when I had Jason. Though they might be a little bit dated now." She said with a light shrug, looking over at Jason with a smile. God those books were already thirteen years old...

Whizzer nodded with a soft smile, "Thank you, maybe we can find them later tonight." Eventually everyone was sat down and began to dig into the food, almost to the extent that the table was mostly silent with the exception of eating noises for the first few minutes. Marvin turned to his lover right as he was about to grab some salt and saw that his plate was already cleared. 

He chuckled a bit and watched as he sighed satisfactorily and got up for another helping. "Don't you think you should slow down a bit?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Whizzer stopped immediately, back still turned to him. Everyone kind of held their breath, waiting for the other man's reaction, except for a, "Christ Dad you're going to get it now." 

Whizzer turned on his heels and smiled at him. "When you have a human shaped tapeworm in your stomach then you can talk to me about slowing it down." He said, sickeningly sweet with a layer of bitterness under it. The taller man dropped the smile and quickly spun back around to the kitchen, walking in and disappearing. Everyone kind of released their breaths and gave sharp looks to Marvin. 

"I just didn't want him getting sick!" He insisted in a stage whisper, throwing his hands up in the air helplessly. They all sighed and turned back to their meals. 

Whizzer angrily scooped some more dumplings onto his plate, muttering to himself and swallowing a lump in his throat. 'Oh come on, not here, not on Chanukah.' He thought desperately, glaring down at his stomach. The man put his plates down on the counter quietly, sneaking off to the bathroom and sitting on the toilet in defeat. 

The second the door was closed he started to feel the tears flow over, his mood rapidly swinging from angry to sad and back. "Why does he have to be such an asshole sometimes? God he probably thinks I'm some huge, fat, glutton... who am I kidding I am a huge fat glutton." He mumbled to himself, quickly dabbing the tears away with toilet paper so they wouldn't leave marks on his face. "God dammit why do I always have to get all stupid and emotional... Why can't he be more sensitive?" 

Mendel looked around, and noticing that everyone in the midst of conversation failed to see that Whizzer had yet to come back from the kitchen. He quietly excused himself and wandered around the house searching and then heard the quiet crying and muttering from behind the bathroom door. "Whizzer?" It suddenly got very quiet and still. "I know you're in there." The door slowly creaked open and Whizzer smiled sadly at him, shuffling back into the bathroom. "I'll be out there in a sec Mendel."

"It's okay to be upset, he was kind of an asshole." "Wasn't he? Ugh... was he? Am I just going crazy? I hate being so emotional, I don't want people to tippy toe around me..." He mumbled, swiping his hands across his face to wipe away the tears. Mendel closed the door and sighed. He didn't say anything, just staring at Whizzer and waiting for him to talk more. That kind of pressure typically- "Do you think I'm fat?" yep there it is. 

Mendel laughed quietly and shook his head. "Whizzer you look great, and don't let your head tell you different. Lots of people struggle with image issues during and after pregnancy, it's normal, but I promise you look fine." Whizzer nodded a little and sat on the toilet again. He weighed the options, Mendel had no sexual ulterior motives, he wasn't afraid of being kind of mean, or honest. He would do his best to believe what Mendel said. 

"Marvin probably does... he makes those little comments, he's gonna ditch me. Leave me for the next pretty boy that smiles his way. Ugh like that twink of a temp as his job. Oh god." Mendel pulled his lips back and clicked his teeth. Yikes, there was too much to unpack here in too little a time.

"Whizzer, hey, I don't have all the answers here and we're running out of time before they all start questioning stuff, but Marvin loves you. Like so much. It's annoying really. He's not going to leave you just because you aren't as physically attractive as you- I mean- shit- you are- you're still attractive but he isn't going to leave you because you're pregnant, that's silly. He can be an ass but he's not dumb, he knows that weight gain is part of this whole thing. You aren't going to come out the other side of this and look identical and he knows that. He was just being insensitive, I promise you that your fears are unfounded." 

The taller man nodded with a weak smile, blowing a soft breath out and resting a hand on the bump, something he rarely did in front of anyone but Marvin. "Feeling better?" "Yeah I think my mood is turning for the better." "Good now let's get back to dinner. You get yourself a plate of food and I'll fight with Marvin about which side of the menorah the candles are supposed to be lit from." Whizzer laughed and returned to the table with his plate and Mendel following behind him a few moments later. 

"I'm really sorry baby... what took so long?" "I had a breakdown in the bathroom, I'm better now though." He hummed with a soft smile, kissing his cheek. "You're forgiven, for the most part." Marvin simply stared straight at the table, deja vu. Trina laughed at his expression because it's hard to spend 10 years with a man and not know what he's thinking. 

——

Needless to say all of these insecurities didn't disappear after Marvin apologized. Whizzer still spent most mornings scrutinizing his appearance in the mirror, counting the stretch marks and the inches around his waist. He wept over every pimple and he felt like a human disaster most days, staying fake asleep in bed until he heard Marvin leave for work. 

Typically around four he managed to drag himself out of bed, shave, dress, do his hair and start dinner, just in time for Marvin to come home and kiss his cheek. "Hey baby," he called, and Whizzer could hear the noise of the coat being thrown on the couch and not hung up. He didn't have the energy to fight, nor did he want to, terrified that any little thing would be the last straw. Marvin raised an eyebrow at his quiet lover and walked into the kitchen. 

"Looks yummy." He said, placing his hands on Whizzer's hips who quickly moved away to grab some spice from the cabinet. "It'll only be a few more minutes, I got a late start." He mumbled, throwing him a little smile. "That's fine, what is it?" "Just some gnocchi. Is that okay?" He asked with another smile. Marvin raised an eyebrow, looking over his boyfriend. Something was off. He wasn't vibrant, or firey in the slightest. "Yeah that's fine... Are you okay?" "Of course!" 

Marvin frowned and developed a quick plan. He tried to remember every little thing Whizzer would quip at him for. He kicked off his shoes and left them in the kitchen. Nothing. He scratched the inside of his ear, picked at his teeth, burped, left his dishes in the sink after dinner. Not a peep. He came up to Whizzer in the kitchen, holding him from behind tightly so he couldn't slip away. "What is going on? I've done everything that annoys you the most and you haven't said a word." "It's your apartment honey, you can do what you want." 

Okay who gave his lover a lobotomy? Marvin didn't even know how to respond. "It's our apartment. Whizzer, baby, talk to me. Put down the dishes." "Just grab a beer and turn on the tv, I'll be done in a minute." "Whizzer. Now." He demanded, staring at him until he was forced to make eye contact. "I'm sorry." The taller man said softly, swallowing a thick lump in his throat. 

He sighed, "you have nothing to be... sorry about just tell me what's going on? Who body snatched my boyfriend?" "I just want you to be happy." "I'm always happy when I'm here with you, but now I'm more confused than anything. Why are you acting like this?" "I'm being stupid, sorry, I guess I'll go back to normal... pick up your jacket." He said, his tone still incredulously demure. "You aren't stupid, tell me the truth, do you think I'm not happy?" "I just don't want you to leave!" 

Marvin's whole face morphed into one of complete shock. "Leave? Jesus honey do you think I'm going to leave you?" "I-I don't know I just- I wanted you to be happy so you... wouldn't." He tried to explain, shuffling around the small kitchen. "I know I'm not exactly... attractive anymore, I just didn't want you to get bored of me, or get mad, or-" Marvin almost cried just by looking at the distressed state of his boyfriend. 

"Whizzer! Hey, come here," he pulled him into a quick tight hug, pulling away and holding his face in his hands. "Baby, I'm not going to leave you because you tell me to do my dishes, or you don't make dinner one night. I love you, you know that right? God I hope you know that, you need to know that. I'm right here, and I'm going to be right here and you're not unattractive just because you have a baby bump and a few stretch marks-" "13" "what?" "13 stretch marks." "You've counted them?" He nodded. "Jesus... baby." He had no words.

He had no idea Whizzer had dug himself so far into this pit of doubt and hatred. He should've known sooner. "...even if you have a baby bump and 13 stretch marks. You're gorgeous, and every day I'm anxious in traffic because I want to get home to my beautiful partner carrying my beautiful child as soon as possible." He pulled him in for a soft kiss and cupped his hands around the bump. "You two are all I want in the world. I wouldn't trade you for anything. I've failed as your boyfriend if you don't know how fucking hot you are." Whizzer laughed a little and sighed, following Marvin to the couch and sitting down with him.

"I don't... I don't want a housewife, I want you, in every shape, size, and emotion. Even if you snap at me or forget dinner or don't want sex." Whizzer nodded a little and curled up into him, burrowing his face into his neck and shoulder. "I love you." He mumbled quietly, kissing whatever little piece of flesh was nearest. Marvin smiled and snaked a hand around his waist, "I love you too." 

They sat there for a moment, enjoying the peaceful calm after the storm before Whizzer cleared his throat. "D-Do you want sex?" He stuttered, and Marvin almost laughed since he'd never heard that quiet of a plea before. "Because you saying you loved me really turned me on." Marvin laughed at that and nodded, turning his head and quickly instigating a deep kiss. 

——  
Nesting?  
——

Going out in public was becoming a slightly more traumatizing affair every time. Despite how outgoing Whizzer was, he avoided wearing his sexuality on his sleeve for safety reasons unless he was flirting with someone. New York was fun, but dangerous in parts, and the last thing he needed was being dragged outside a bar and coming face to heel with a hideous New Balance shoe. 

It was an unspoken rule, "if you're queer, fine, but don't get in anyone's face about it." Even when he was in public with Marvin, there was no hand holding, no kisses, unless they were in a very gay part of the city. Just two very close friends and a child that shared a likeness to one of them. Now though, that was impossible. 

One look and it was obvious, since he hadn't exactly given up his love for skin tight shirts. Even if one in ten men were carriers, the fact that he was a gay man was now strewn all across his body. Dirty looks on the train, on the street, even from their landlord. Whizzer had, unfortunately become a shut in, and he was miserable. 

Marvin came home one Wednesday and hung up his jacket, which almost pissed Whizzer off because he needed to get rid of this pent up emotion somehow and it was hard to scream at his lover who was being so goddamn nice and considerate. Ugh. Marvin looked at this face journey his partner was going through and laughed softly. "Hello Darling." He hummed, sitting next to him on the couch. 

"What's on your mind?" "I want to leap out a window." "Jeez, giving me deja vu here. What's going on? What has you so pissed off?" "I... I'm just really sick of it! I can't go anywhere! Do anything! Everyone all day long just gives me judgey looks and I can't even go to the gay areas because it's just bars and clubs and then I'll get judgey looks for totally different reasons!" He explained, throwing his hands up in the air. 

"I know, it must be hard. If you want, there's a corporate party tomorrow night, you can be my plus one..." "I thought you didn't want them to know about... this." "Well..." Marvin sighed a little bit. Whizzer was never offended by this, even when they've gotten more serious recently. He could be fired instantly, there were no protections against discrimination of that kind. Whizzer was always a little peeved about it, but not at Marvin, more so at the nature of it all. 

"I dunno, I just thought you might like going to a place where people have to be nice to you, since I'm their coworker." Whizzer chuckled and sighed, trying to lose some steam. "It's okay Marvin, I wouldn't want you to risk your job like that. Besides, fake niceness is not the ideal." Marvin nodded and kissed him gently. "It'll be over soon. Just a few months right?" Whizzer scoffed. "Says the man who doesn't have to walk around with a kicking, aching beer gut." "That's fair." 

They both chuckled and kissed again, the kiss getting slowly more heated as Whizzer grabbed onto his collar. Marvin's eyebrows raised, not where he expected this to go but he wasn't complaining. He leaned over the taller man, his hands gripping at his sides and crawling upwards, moving him down slowly. Whizzer moaned and smiled into the kiss, his knee rising up slowly as he untucked Marvin's shirt. 

Marvin smiled and wrapped his hands around him underneath his armpit and Whizzer let out a screech and pushed him away, arms covering his chest in a wince. "Shit baby I'm sorry... I totally forgot!" "It's okay..." he breathed out, panting a little. "You're tearing up... that's not okay." "It just hurts... a lot... like all the time. It's fine, I can deal with it." Marvin sighed, "honey Jesus... take off your shirt, I have something for that." He said, getting up and off the couch and trying to take his mind off of his half-hard on left abandoned. 

He grabbed the compresses from the fridge and some aloe vera from the bathroom, walking back over. Whizzer looked at him skeptically and slowly took his shirt off. "Hey lay down, okay?" Whizzer's nodded and awkwardly laid down on the couch, hands reluctantly moving from his chest. Marvin kissed his cheek and gently applied some aloe to his chest and nipples, trying to relieve some of the pain, and then placed the cold compress over them. Whizzer immediately sighed out happily. 

"That feels... really nice actually." He said with a smile, looking up at him. "I know, that's it's job, that's why I bought them." Whizzer sighed and closed his eyes on the couch, just enjoying it for a moment. "Now I get that this whole thing can be painful, but you shouldn't have to bite your lip and suffer through it. Now what else has been hurting you?" "Marvin..." "What else hurts?" Whizzer blushed and sighed, "my feet, and my back, and the skin on my stomach feels really tight and weird." Marvin nodded and drummed his fingers on his chin before getting up and walking to the bedroom. 

"Marvin! You don't have to do any of this..." he said, sighing softly and watching as his partner emerged with a bottle of lotion. "You're pampering me..." "When has the great Whizzer ever rejected getting pampered?" "You make a fair point, but I don't need any of this I think I'll live with sore feet..." "You're ankles are swollen." He observed as he removed his socks. "Well yeah I thought that was normal." "Well.. it can happen, but it's not good." 

Whizzer blushed in shame and crossed his feet. "That's why I do this, to take care of you, make sure you're okay, just like how you make my favorite dinner after I've had a horrible day at work." "Shit... I forgot about dinner again." He said, sighing and trying to move off the couch. "No no you aren't going anywhere. You're staying right here. Cordelia probably has leftovers from an event or something." Whizzer pulled a face, "hey she's a pretty good cook when she's not attempting Jewish food." 

They shared a laugh and Marvin started to get to work on his ankles and arches. "Fuck that feels amazing!" He shouted out, throwing his head back. "Told you. You need to take care of yourself, and that involves asking me for help when you need it. Like when you can't tie your shoes." "I can still tie my shoes! I resent that!" "Yeah, maybe if you twist your body like a contortionist." Marvin laughed at his boyfriend's pout, continuing the massage.

Marvin handed the phone to Whizzer, who had a small uncomfortable battle with the stretched out cord as he called the apartment next door. He could almost hear their phone ring and he wondered if it would've been more effective to just bang on the wall and shout. "Hello?" Came a perky voice on the other end.

"Hey Delia, it's Whizzer, we were just wondering if you had any leftovers you wouldn't mind giving up. I forgot about dinner... again." he sighed a little and pinched the bridge of his nose. Just because Marvin wasn't screaming at him over it anymore doesn't mean he felt any better about messing up. "Of course babe! Do you want pasta or chicken?" "Pasta, definitely." "Great, over in a sec!" She chirped and hung up. Whizzer laughed softly and handed the phone back to Marvin to put on the receiver. 

"No worries, delivery girl is on her way." Whizzer hummed and Marvin continued to knead his hands into the swollen skin. There was a knock on the door and Cordelia popped in soon after, a Tupperware container full of recently microwaved penne in her hands. "Hey guys!" She said, setting it on the counter. "Wow Whizzer you've gotten so big." She awed, looking at the bare stomach as he lay on the couch. The man raised his eyebrows slightly and searched for a blanket to cover himself with. 

"I mean like- in a good way! Clearly you two are nice and healthy! Sorry! I've just like, never really seen a pregnant person before, I mean, duh I have but not, y'know, friends or relatives." She babbled. Whizzer simply laughed and shook his head, assuring her she was fine. "They're kicking right now, do you want to feel it?" He asked, amused by her excitement over it all. "Oh wow I don't know.. YES!" She said, moving over and sitting on the coffee table. 

Cordelia moves her hand forward tentatively and let Whizzer grab it and place it down. "That's so cool! Does it do that all the time?" "Once they started it's pretty much all the time. Sometimes I get a few hours of silence but I've definitely had too many incidents of the three am alarm in the form of a heel to the kidneys." 

She nodded and moved her hand away, smiling wide. "I have a hot water bottle bag in my kitchen that we use for cramps so if you ever need it just let us know." The blonde advised, popping up from her spot. "Thanks, I'll make sure he does that." Marvin said, giving him a side-eyed glare. "He isn't exactly being the best about admitting to pain." "Jeez Whizzer don't be silly! Come over and I'll make us some tea and we can bitch, it'll be fun." She suggested, smiling and patting Marvin's shoulder before she bounced back over to her own apartment.

——

Whizzer sighed as he pulled on the big (hideous) coat Marvin bought him and looked at the door to the apartment. He really didn't want to go to this doctors appointment. It was the first one Marvin couldn't go to with him and he was nervous to say the least. Getting on the train and the bus and all those eyes... 

He shook himself out of his thoughts and sighed, grabbing his keys and wallet and making his way out of the apartment, and out onto the street. He made his way down the streets without too many glares and waddled his way down the stairs into the subway. God stairs were just killing his hips these days, and his knees, and his entire body. He got his ticket and moved into the dank terminal, trying to ignore the skittering sound he knew was rats.

He approached a bench to sit down at and a young skinny couple beat him to the punch, taking the available spot. He just sighed and leaned against the wall, trying to ignore his aching feet. Whizzer was really starting to wish he had brought someone with, or at least a book to keep him busy. Cordelia would've been fun, but Trina actually knew what was going on and could calm him down when he eventually went into his spiral of "oh god is something wrong? There's something wrong isn't there?" 

Eventually he heard the train start to speed towards them and he sighed with relief. He just needed to sit down, relax and calm his nerves. As the train moved into the station he realized that wouldn't be happening. It was already packed with people. He looked down at his watch and groaned. Of course he had to schedule an appointment around rush hour. He managed to step his way on the train and get to a spot that wasn't too crowded. He looked for any empty seat and there of course was none, and no one looked eager to stand up for him either. 

He internally rolled his eyes at his own behavior and as a last resort he unzipped his coat, making it clear that he was visibly pregnant and can someone get the fuck up please my back and feet are killing me. A few people looked up but simply sneered and returned to their newspaper or conversation. Whizzer sighed and grabbed at the pole next to him, trying not to touch anyone or get an elbow to the stomach. 

The rattling of the train car was making him nauseous and making the baby kick angrily, and he regretted not taking the bus all the way there. Two stops later and older, well, old as hell, woman walked onto the train. She shuffled by and Whizzer moved out of the way to let her find a seat. She smiled at him. That wasn't something he had seen from a stranger in a long time. 

She looked at two men in the seats in front of her and glared, "Move!" She ordered, gesturing her crypt keeper finger at them. "Both of you." Whizzer laughed to himself a bit and rubbed the bottom of the bump, trying to calm the baby down a bit. She sat down and looked up at Whizzer, he swallowed and looked away. "No you! Come here! I asked both of them to move for a reason." He looked around a little and made eye contact with her and she nodded. Whizzer smiled and took a seat next to her.

"Thank you, that's really nice of you." He said with a soft smile, letting out a relaxed sigh. "It's what those assholes should've done in the first place." She huffed, glaring at the men who were still nearby in the crowded cart. "Carriers don't get the respect they deserve." She said with a curt nod, looking forward. Whizzer smiled and thanked her again, leaning back in his seat and resting a hand on the bump, closing his eyes and relaxing until he heard his stop called. 

He got up and thanked her with a smile, making his way off the train and to the doctors office a few blocks away, zipping his coat back up. He made his way in and smiled at the receptionist, giving his name and insurance card and taking a seat. Whizzer scanned the room, looking at other pregnant women reading magazines or taking care of their other children. He smiled at one baby that looked destined to have an Irish Twin and it smiled back. He felt relieved. 

Whizzer was terrified of this whole thing. When was the last time he even held a baby? He was good with Jason, but Jason was a kid, and now a teenager, he could deal with that. How do you handle babies? Marvin should be able to help, but he hasn't had to take care of a baby for 13 years, he might not remember everything. God he was going to be a horrible parent...

"Woah!" He said, watching as a kid running by tripped on his foot. He winced and reached forward to try and help the kid up, who had started to cry softly, but remembered he didn't exactly have the same range of motion he once did. He awkwardly got down on his knees to help him up, smiling at him. "It's okay, are you hurt?" The boy looked down at his hands and arms and shook his head. "Well that's good, I'm sorry you tripped on my foot." "'Ts okay." He mumbled, running back to the other side where there was a small kiddie corner with toys. 

"William Brown?" Whizzer winced a little at the name and sighed, waving his hand slightly and pushing himself back up onto his feet with the chair, embarrassingly out of breath by the end. He followed her into the back and nodded as he was handed a small gown. "Change into this and the doctor will be with you shortly." He nodded and stripped down, getting into the gown and onto the bed. 

This was so much more stressful than when Marvin was with him. He would always crack jokes, and he got his foot stuck in the stirrup that one time. It was stupid but it made him relax, and not think about the litany of things that could be wrong with him or the baby. He smiled at the nurse who came in to take blood and check his heart rate and blood pressure, checking the baby's heart rate too. 

After a few more minutes the doctor eventually came in and flashed him a kind smile. He liked her for the most part, he had to, since she was the only women to get that close to his dick. "Hello Whizzer! How are things going for you and the baby, any major differences?" She hummed, filling out her clipboard. "Not really, I've been a little more moody but that's just because of cabin fever I think. And I had a cold last week too." He said, trying to glance at what she was writing. 

"Are they kicking regularly?" "Ugh, all the time, it's hard to sleep..." "Are you feeling tired earlier or more than usual?" "More so like a bored tired than a sleep tired, that's stayed pretty much the same." She nodded. "Regular urination and bowel movements?" "For now, I was constipated a few weeks ago though..." he mumbled, blushing and looking to the floor. "That's totally normal, no need to be embarrassed. I've heard it all." He nodded a little and sighed. 

"Any lactation or leaking?" He raises an eyebrow and swallowed. "That... that happens?" "Yes, especially around this time in the third trimester. Think of it like a pressure thing. Using a breast pump can typically reduce leaking, pain, and pressure in your chest." He nodded and blushed again, clearing his throat. 

"Anything else to tell me?" He thought for a moment and shook his head. "Alright, let's get on with the exam then." She smiled and popped up from her seat, gesturing towards the stirrups. He did his best not to groan. He missed Marvin, he was always able to distract him. She did her best though, telling him a joke or a story to keep his mind occupied as she was checking over everything. 

Eventually everything was over, and she assured him everything looked fine, helping him get an appointment date for next month. 

Once he was back on the train there were a few spots open, even though he was next to a man that couldn't keep his elbows to himself and a woman who wouldn't stop glaring at him. He got home and fell back on the couch, just exhausted from having to be outside all day. When Marvin came home he was all over him, receiving something a lot better than cold metal forceps.

——

Marvin to say the least, was stressed. He was sleep deprived since Whizzer tosses and turns all night, work was a nightmare as a result, Jason was getting distant since he was going through his own drama about no longer being the baby of the family, and his psychiatrist was out of town. It was a bad brain concoction. 

Having to hide something so joyful was like torture. Hiding his sexuality at least made sense to him, it felt like such a burden all his life, but having to keep quiet about something as exciting as a new baby was awful. He couldn't tell his coworkers since he wasn't out, and he couldn't lie and say he was remarried, he couldn't have a large family baby shower like with Trina, it was all in the dark, and Whizzer felt trapped; the whole situation was just nightmarish. As a result, his mind was misfiring constantly. 

Marvin woke up in a cold sweat, sitting straight up and trying to catch his breath. "Marv-" Whizzer started to whine, since his movement woke him up, but quickly stopped himself. He turned over and pushed himself up, looking at his lover. "Marvin? Are you okay?" He asked, watching as he began to pant and cry, holding his head in his hands. He reached out to rub his back and the hand was slapped away, Marvin jumping out of bed quickly. He paced for a moment before sitting on the floor in just a wreck. 

Whizzer sighed sympathetically and pushed himself out of bed, awkwardly lowering himself down on the floor to be next to his partner. "I won't touch you, but my hand is right here." He murmured, extending an open hand on his lap. Marvin continued his small fit for a few more minutes before doing his best to calm down and extend a hand towards Whizzer's. "I'm s-stupid. It was- It was just a nightmare..." "You aren't stupid Marvin, it's okay to be upset." "I'm- I'm supposed-" "you aren't supposed to be anything. You're Marvin and that's amazing all on it's own." He assured him, remembering that the pit of masculine insecurity always lurked close by with his lover. 

"Do you want to tell me what it was about? Maybe that'll help?" "I- Ugh... it- it was you, and there was like a car accident or something. I was driving. And then we were in the middle of no where, and I just had to watch you and the baby die, just totally helpless." He said, doing his best to remember. "Oh god Marvin." He leaned over and hugged him as close as he could. "Well we're right here okay?" He moved his hand to rest on the side of his stomach, where the baby was now kicking. "That's horrible you have every right to be upset." 

"I don't even know where that came from, I guess I've just felt so helpless. I've been a horrible boyfriend." "No you have not!" Whizzer stated firmly. "You've been amazing! How many other men would rub my feet and my back, or actually listen to me when I bitch, or come to my appointments with me? You're so much better than you give yourself credit for. There are some things you can't help, like other people being assholes, but that's fine." He kissed his cheek and smiled. "We knew this would be difficult, right? There's nothing you can do to stop that; it doesn't make you helpless and it doesn't make you a bad boyfriend or father." 

Marvin nodded and laid his head on his shoulder, continuing to calm down and wipe his tears away. "I'm just glad you two are safe." "We're right here baby." They stayed together for a moment before Marvin stood up, stretching and shuffling to the bathroom. By the time he returned his lover was still on the floor, looking up at him. "What are you doing?" "I... I can't get up." He said with a weak laugh. Marvin chuckled along and extended his hands, helping the other man back to his feet. "See? Good boyfriend." Marvin smiled at him and laid down on the bed, holding him close as they both went back to sleep.

——

Baby shopping was a traumatizing, nightmarish Twilight Zone episode he never realized he would have to go though. Whizzer remembered going shopping with his mom before his younger brother was born, and being pissed off that the stuffed rabbit was for the baby and not for him. He only thought about the rabbit, and never the stress of thinking about prices, delivery, and building these furniture pieces. 

Marvin took his hand and helped him out of the car, walking into the Sears with high hopes they wouldn't need to go anywhere else. Neither of them wanted to brave the Toys R Us baby section and risk getting run over by hyper toddlers and children. 

Whizzer gripped his hand and stuck his other hand in his jacket pocket, regrettably having to revert to his leather jacket since it was too warm for his large puffy winter coat. Marvin knew he'd have to glare off a lot of hateful customers and protectively kept his arms around Whizzer at all times. Marvin did his best to lighten his spirits and avoid the jackasses. 

"Look at this, it's adorable, it's a little piglet onesie." He said, ushering his lover over to the clothes. Whizzer smiled for the first time that afternoon and laughed a little, pulling it forth and examining it. "This is adorable, can we get it?" "Of course." Marvin said with a smile, carefully picking out blankets, bottles, formula, bedding and soap. Whizzer followed along, nodding and laughing whenever Marvin made a little joke to keep his spirits up. "It's a dehumidifier right next to a humidifier, that baby's gonna suffocate." 

Marvin was fighting an uphill battle with Whizzer. He would say a few funny things or grab some cute shoes or hats and all of that positivity would be ruined by one mean glare from another couple. After stocking up on diapers and clothes, they eventually had to consider furniture. "This looks nice." Whizzer hummed, running his hands over the dark wooden crib, quickly losing his smile as another couple admiring the crib quickly walked away. 

"You have just as much of a right to be here as those assholes do." Marvin muttered, Whizzer nodding and straightening up his back a little bit. "I like this, but maybe we should consider something a little cheaper." Whizzer stated, nodding his head like he just decided to merge his corporate office. 

Marvin laughed and smiled, "okay then, let's look at a few more." He said, following his partner and smiling as he saw another gay couple browsing for cribs, hoping that Whizzer saw too and it made him feel better. "Oh this is just perfect." Whizzer gushed, "it's so modern." Marvin raised an eyebrow, they all kind of looked the same to him. "If you like it we'll get it." He said with a smile, holding him close. 

They stood near and tried to wave over a nearby clerk. "Ma'am? Miss?" Whizzer tried, watching as she walked right by them. Whizzer growled a bit and tried not to go into his total New York "Hey Lady!" They simply waited for another employee to come round. The next one was thankfully nicer. "Hi, how can I help you two?" "We'd like this one please." Whizzer said with a smile, gesturing to the crib right next to them. "Of course, I'll grab it from stock and it will be waiting for you by the register." 

Whizzer smiled a little and moved on, selecting a dresser and changing table that were similarly styled. Once they reached the cash register it had felt like they passed through a baby themed hurricane. Whizzer swore that if he saw one more baby blue he would throw up. "Stocking up?" The cashier asked, scanning all of the items. "Yeah, we kind of waited until the last minute." Whizzer said with a little laugh, scratching his neck. "I was going to say. You look like you're about to pop." Marvin clenched his jaw and watched his partner shrug it off, "ha yeah... we saved just enough time to build everything." 

Eventually the awkward interaction was over and they stored everything in the station wagon they borrowed from Trina. "God I didn't know everything would be that expensive. I'm sorry." "You're fine babe, babies come with a price tag, I knew it was coming, I've been saving." Whizzer reached over and began to pull the crib box out of the cart, Marvin rushing over from the drivers side. "What are you doing?!" "Uhh putting it away?" "You can't do that, here, let go." "You have a bad back!" "You're eight months pregnant!" "Touché bitch." 

Whizzer sighed and watched Marvin struggle to lift the box into the truck, and thankfully the other gay couple from earlier walked up. "Need some help?" The father asked, walking over and helping to load it in, along with the other furniture. "Thanks man," Marvin said, pretending as if he wasn't panting. "Marvin." "Chip." There was a small handshake and the other man walked away. Whizzer buckled in with the bags of smaller items on his lap and they drove away from the hell that was department stores.

——

Whizzer knocked on Jason's door. There was a teenage boy in the house, knocking was a priority. "Mm?" Came a grunt from the other side. The man laughed and opened the door. "I have breakfast, unless you'd prefer the company of your Walkman and Sports Illustrated." Jason made a face and blushed heavily. Whizzer laughed a little and waved him out. 

"What'd you make?" Jason asked, stumbling out of his room in a pair of jeans that were way too short. "Pancakes, bacon, we have some orange juice in the fridge." "Morning kiddo." "Morning dad." Jason hopped up on the counter chair and quickly slumped his head down. "We're building the baby furniture today, we wanted you to help." Marvin began, setting down the newspaper in his hand and taking a sip of the coffee. 

"Sure." The couple exchanged a soft look between them. "You okay kiddo?" "It's 10 am on a Saturday." "That's fair, you can go back to bed if you want." Whizzer said with a smile. "I'm already up, and you made food." 

The family ate breakfast in relative silence, just the hum of the morning news on in the background. "Excited for spring break?" Marvin asked with a smile, gesturing to the school calendar on the wall. "Kinda, not that I can really do anything." "What do you mean?" "Well, mom and Mendel are working and well..." he loosely gestured over to Whizzer. The man in question bit his lip and nodded a little. 

"Hey you and me can still do some fun stuff, and Whizzer can still move, for now." He joked, trying to lighten the gray mood of the room. "What do you want to do?" "Well a lot of kids are going on vacation, going into the city, arcades, musicals, games, y'know." "I could take you to a baseball game." Whizzer offered with a nod and smile before he quickly regretted it. "That's okay." 

Why did he even ask. He was 13 and everything is mortifying. Having your dad's gay, heavily pregnant, lover take you to a sports game was definitely up on the embarrassing scale. "Sorry, I know this has gotta be hard for you and I'm sure you're sick of dealing with baby crap. Maybe I can give you some money for an arcade or something instead of helping out with the furniture." Whizzer suggested, immediately feeling apologetic. 

"No! I mean... I- I wanna help out, it's okay. I like making stuff." Whizzer eyed Marvin again who shrugged a little. Teenagers are weird, maybe he should see a- They all jumped as a bird slammed into their kitchen window, quickly cutting the awkward tension in the room, laughter filling the silence. 

"And please, I've been hearing about baby stuff since the beginning, even before you dad." Marvin did a small spit take into his coffee cup and looked over at Whizzer who gave a half-wince. "You've got a very smart son Marvin." He said with a weak laugh. "I didn't tell him before you, he just found out." He defended, Marvin rolling his eyes in exhaustion. "Because I was the first to find out I would like to propose Jason 2 for baby name approval." 

They all laughed and the couple quickly shot down the suggestion after varying degrees of consideration.  
"What about Marvin Jr?" Whizzer asked, giggling as his partner gagged.  
"Shouldn't we also think of some girl names?" Marvin asked to change the subject.  
"Maribeth for a girl and Ezekiel for a boy."  
"Jesus Christ..."  
"Only the best creepy religious names for my little angel."  
"What about a name with a bunch of weird accent marks?" Jason chimed in. Marvin shook his head in defeat, lord help him for wanting to name his child something somewhat normal like-

"Nathan?" Whizzer stopped laughing and looked over at Marvin, a small smile creeping onto his features.  
"I actually like that name, I'll add it to my mental list." Marvin raised an eyebrow.  
"Maaaaybe we should write it down. I don't exactly trust the mental list that told you to put your keys in the microwave." Whizzer gave him a sharp glare for bringing that up, and Jason quickly suppressed a snort.

He was living with traitors. 

"You put your keys in the microwave? Why?" Jason asked through giggles. "Pregnancy does a lot of weird stuff to your brain unfortunately." Whizzer said with a sigh, moving to grab a pen and a sticky note to write the name down. "What other names do you two like?" Jason asked. "Well I like Elizabeth.." "that's such a goy ass name." Marvin muttered into his coffee. "Fine, Lydia." "I like that name." "I do too to be honest." The other man said, admitting defeat. 

They spent the rest of the morning thinking up names to actually go into the consideration pool before getting dressed in sloppy work clothes. Jason and Marvin busted open the boxes and separated the parts, Whizzer grabbing his tool kit. In the past he knew he would've gotten pissy that Whizzer knew his way around tools and he didn't, but he was doing his best to give up control of some things. Some things. 

"Where are the instructions." "I dunno over there." Marvin said, waving his hand in the general direction of the wall. "You started building without looking at the instructions?" "Yeah it's pretty self explanatory." Whizzer let out an exasperated sigh and a muttered sentence along the lines of "all men are the fucking same." 

He grabbed the instructions and began to work, Marvin sometimes pulling him away from certain things because Whizzer apparently had no concept of what over-exertion meant. Jason put his headphones on while Marvin and Whizzer argued over how the room should be structured and ended up finishing half the crib himself. 

The project ended up going late into the night, frequently interrupted by bathroom breaks, arguing and snacks. Around 10 pm Jason and Marvin were finishing up the last touches on the changing table, Whizzer taking an impromptu nap on the floor. They looked around at their accomplishments and a lot of cardboard and plastic wrapping. "It looks great kid." Marvin complimented with an affectionate ruffling of his son's hair. 

"Yeah, I can't believe it took all day. I'm exhausted." "Too exhausted to watch SNL with me?" Marvin asked, getting up and extending a hand. "Shouldn't we wake him up?" "Eh he hasn't gotten a good nights sleep all week. Let him rest. You can put a blanket on him." Jason nodded and grabbed the blanket from the couch, loosely throwing it on Whizzer. 

"Dad?" "Hmm?" "Is Whizzer... okay?" "What do you mean?" "He just seems really worn out and tired and crabby." Marvin laughed a little and shrugged. "That's just how it is this late in the game. The baby's taking a lot of his energy so he's going to be a little tired and weird sometimes." He explained simply. "Is he... going to be okay, after all of this?" Marvin furrowed his brows and swallowed. He'd never really thought of it before. What if there were complications, or what if something horrible happened? 

"I'm sure he'll be just fine, and so will your little sibling. He's a lot stronger and healthier than I am that's for sure." He laughed a little bit and turned back to the tv, trying to ignore the anxious thoughts creeping into his head. "Do you want some ice cream?" Marvin asked, giving himself a task so he could pretend like he wasn't simply pacing. "You have ice cream?" "I think it's illegal to have a pregnant person living in your home and not have ice cream." Marvin answered, scooping two bowls. An idle mind is the devil's plaything after all. 

Whizzer ended up waking up to pee and crawling into bed later in the night, cuddling into Marvin loosely and allowing himself to be the little spoon. Marvin held on fiercely tight, as if he would crumble to dust if he let go. 

——

Marvin grabbed the handle and he knew he was about to get an earful from his lover, but it's been a fucking day. He turned the key and saw Whizzer watching tv on the couch and flipping through a magazine. The shorter man trudged over and immediately fell against his lover, burying his face in his neck. 

"Marvin it's 8 pm." "I know..." he mumbled, and Whizzer felt a few cold spots form on his shoulder. He frowned and held Marvin close, rubbing his back up and down. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" Marvin shook his head a little and Whizzer nodded, simply comforting his partner. "Well, whatever happened I'm sorry, but I'm right here alright?" 

Marvin sniffled and stayed quiet for a few more minutes, crying against Whizzer's shoulder. "Baby, move over, move your back to me." Whizzer said softly, positioning him and starting to work on his back. "No... babe don't-" "Hey I still get to take care of you alright?" "Whiz you're-" "Yeah yeah pregnant and huge I know, I still have functioning arms and biceps though so just stop whining." He said, blowing him a little kiss since he couldn't lean forward. 

Marvin sighed in defeat, still reluctant to accept the gesture since before this was one of the things he just expected Whizzer to do the second he got home. Whizzer gently dug his thumbs into his neck and upper back, telling him casually about some drama he heard from Cordelia to get his mind off of things.

About a half hour after Marvin came home, and they were all cuddled up on the couch Whizzer looked over at him. "Do you feel like you can tell me what happened now?" "It was nothing major, I guess. This guy at work was just complaining about this gay protest making him late to work. I tried to explain that they're fighting against a serious disease and he asked if I was a queer. I said no... what else could I say? It just made me feel shitty." Whizzer nodded sympathetically, kissing him softly. 

"Life sucks." "And then you die." Marvin muttered in response, chuckling a bit and releasing a sigh. "Sorry for throwing the little tantrum, it can just be so exhausting and-" "don't apologize honeybear, you deserve to feel your emotions out. Stuffing them all up is how everything fell apart the first time. Besides, I'll probably cry before the day is done." Marvin eyed him and kissed him softly, pressing a hand to his stomach and feeling a soft kick against his palm.

"See? Plenty of people are excited to see you." Whizzer added, rubbing his cheek affectionately. "Hey little person. We still don't have a name for you yet, we should probably get on that, but I'm excited to see you too. Just hopefully not too soon. We want you to have fully formed lungs and such." Whizzer rolled his eyes and chuckled a little as he watched Marvin talk to the large bump, smiling wide as the baby kicked at his hand again. "Three weeks..." "Jesus Christ, three weeks already? We have a lot to get done." "It'll be fine Marv, just relax and let me cuddle you."

——

Marvin was... hovering. Generally he liked being around Whizzer and being close to him but the younger man could tell this was different. He would stub his toe and Marvin would be by his side immediately, asking if everything was alright and offering to run out and buy bandaids. 

"He's just always... right there! I turn around and he's an inch away from me- but I don't hear him? He like teleports, it's insane." Whizzer explained, stirring the sugar in his tea as he stretched out on the lesbians' couch. "He's probably just anxious and paranoid. Believe me I've seen new fathers in worse shape." Charlotte said with a laugh, taking a tiny bite of whatever Cordelia had made recently. 

"But he's not a new father, that's why I thought I wouldn't have to deal with this stuff." "Well, his last baby was 13 years ago, and he really cares about you two so he just doesn't want anything bad to happen." Cordelia defended. "See, that'd be fine but the man took away my book because he thought the plot would be too stressful!" The two women laughed out loud. 

Cordelia sat down close to him and patted the top of his head with a giggle. "I'm sorry but we had to deal with depressed, mopey Marvin for two years so I think you can handle anxious, neurotic Marvin for a few more weeks." "Ugh... I guess. I just can't stand the hovering. Mendel needs to take him out, do some stupid straight guy stuff to loosen him up a little. I don't want him having a breakdown when I actually go into labor." 

Whizzer swallowed a lump in his throat and his smile faltered. Oh god, that was soon, and it was going to hurt, a lot. He hadn't thought too much about it but now it was like a time bomb. Shit. "Whiz?" Charlotte called, snapping in front of his face. "Honey are you okay?" "Yeah... yeah! I'm fine, I just- I haven't thought about... the pain and the pushing and the bleeding and the nursing all that much. I'm..." "it's okay to be scared." The blonde said with a smile. "I was terrified when I got my appendix taken out and that's like the size of a coin purse. A baby is like, a watermelon." 

Whizzer's eyes shot open wide and looked over at her and Charlotte gently hit her leg, "stop talking about it." "Oh, sorry, that probably scared you more." Whizzer nodded a little bit, still pretty catatonic. "Look, labor sucks and it's gross. Why do you think I'm trying to be a GP? There's blood and fluid and poop and vomit and pain, it's gonna suck and there's no two ways about it, but you're going to be fine, and the bleeding will stop after a month or so, and you're going to have a perfect little human monster child in the end." Charlotte assured him with a simple shrug. 

That actually did help him calm down a bit. Millions of people go through this all the time, and they're fine. "You and the kid are going to be perfectly fine." Charlotte added with a more comforting smile. "Try telling Marvin that... but thank you."

——

"Honey you don't have to go if you don't want to." Marvin assured him, rolling up the sleeves on his shirt like Whizzer showed him. The man in question emerged from the bathroom, "I didn't put on aftershave to not go out." He said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. It was Trina's birthday dinner and Marvin liked the idea of being amicable. 

"Are you sure?" "Jesus Christ Marvin! I'm fine!" He shouted, waving his arms around. There was a beat of silence and a shocked Marvin took a few steps back. "I'm sorry... I know I've been irritable. I'm sorry." Whizzer put his hand on his forehead. 

He felt like such an asshole sometimes. Part of him understood that it was just the hormones and mood swings and Marvin was used to it but part of him also knew that words hurt and no one likes getting bitched out. Marvin has dealt with the brunt of his moods, and has quite possibly developed a thick skin for it, but he was never really sure how the other felt. 

Marvin chuckled a little and kissed his lover's cheek. "No, I'm sorry for pestering you, I've been... annoying." "No! You've been sweet, and caring. Being annoying is just a small side effect." Marvin smiled and rolled his eyes, pulling Whizzer in as close as he could be. "Just a few weeks." "It'll all be over, thank god." 

They shared a soft kiss. It had no heat, just an easy communication of support and love for each other. 

The apple didn't fall far from the tree in terms of the baby liking attention. Whizzer had brought the fork up to his teeth when an uncomfortable pain hit. His breath quickened and deepened instinctively, and he felt his face get hot fast. The grip on his fork had his knuckles turning white. "Whizzer? You okay?" Jason asked from the spot next to him. He tended to be the most observant, especially since he had been looking around in a bored haze as his mother went off on another tangential story. 

"Huh? I'm fine kiddo." Whizzer assured him quietly, letting out a laugh that kind of turned into a groan as his eyes wound shut. "Babe?" Marvin asked in a panic. He pushed away from the table and watched as his partner's hand rubbed the underside of his bump. "Oh shit! Baby! Baby!" Marvin shouted, fumbling and tripping over his chair as he sprinted to the door to grab his keys. "No, fuck... I'm fine!" Whizzer said in a panic, waving his hands around. 

"Doesn't look like you're fine. Does it hurt bad?" Jason asked, Whizzer letting out a gaspy laugh and nodding. "Have you had any pains at all before right now?" Whizzer shook his head lightly. "Then they probably aren't actual labor pains. Might just be your body trying to move the baby around." Charlotte said calmly, trying to keep Whizzer from freaking out much more. 

Marvin ran back into the dining room and panted a little. "Alright let's go-!" "Marv! They're probably fake. It's fine." Trina said, knowing her voice would be able to slice through his mania. "Yeah, I'm fine, go back to talking." Whizzer said, waving his hand around and signaling them to continue. "No I didn't say you're fine." Marvin looked around like a confused dog. "Just hold his hand or something, wait for it to pass." Cordelia suggested. 

Marvin did just that, and it eventually did pass. The couple waited with baited breath the whole night waiting for another one, an actual sign to get moving, but it never came. Small gifts were opened and birthday cake was served, all without incident. 

"I think the waiting is the worst part..." Whizzer muttered late one night, when he could tell Marvin was still awake. "Definitely, I'm nervous all the time I can't imagine how you feel." "Well I have a doctors appointment tomorrow so we'll see how long we'll have to keep waiting." "That's good." "I am nervous though. I know I don't talk about it much but I'm really scared." 

Marvin nodded a little and let out a sigh, turning over and seeing a few reflective tears roll down his love's face. "Hey come here..." he pulled him in close and kissed the top of his head. "I feel so stupid but I'm so scared. That fake contraction hurt so much- how the hell am I going to survive the real thing?" "You'll survive it because you're a strong, passionate man who can do anything you set your mind to. And also because billions of people have survived it before you. And because I'll be there to support you." 

"Wish you could do it for me." "I don't, but I'll fan you and bring you ice." Whizzer chuckled and curled closer to him. "Baby's freaking out too I think. All kicks and punches." Marvin nodded and placed a hand over the side of the bump, seeing on the skin where the little kicks were aiming. "It's nuts that your stomach just moves!" Whizzer laughed and shrugged. "It's definitely weirder in the bath." 

Marvin scooted down on the bed so he was face to belly with the kid. He began to softly sing Que Sera, grabbing the lotion on the bedside and rubbing circles into the bump. The movements died down after an encore of the song, and Marvin looked up to find Whizzer on the verge of consciousness as well, a small smile on his face. He could rest easy knowing that this kid would have an amazing father.

——

"Uhh what are you guys doing?" Jason asked, walking back into the apartment after a visit to the library with a few classmates. "Birthing tapes." Marvin said, unable to believe was what coming out of his mouth. "They're just some VHS's from the library. Whizzer thinks they'll help." Jason raised an eyebrow and watched as his parents sat on the floor, Whizzer in a weird state of zen as he leaned up against Marvin. Jason couldn't help but laugh a little as Whizzer hit Marvin's arm in an effort to get him to do the humming the video instructed. 

"This isn't going to work if you're just sitting their giggling!" "It's funny! This looks like this was shot in like 1969. It's all weird hippie bullshit!" Whizzer relented and leaned up against him. "It is kind of funny," "that dude's hair is longer than Trina's." "They look like they haven't showered in a week." The three continued to make fun of the video, the couple trying half heartedly to follow along. 

——

Whizzer leaned back in a bath Marvin had lovingly drawn for him, a small bag of chocolates resting on the floor as a calming jazz record echoed throughout the house. Marvin had gone out (been dragged out) by Mendel to unwind and relax and give Whizzer some space. He had made sure to write down the house's phone number and a few local bars' numbers too. Whizzer loved him but god he was unbearably anxious right now. 

"Hey baby. I don't think we've talked too much. Are you ready to come out soon? I kind of hope you are. It's getting really hard to walk around and do things." Whizzer recalled one day about a week ago when he couldn't even walk because he was in so much pain. The baby had chosen a particularly weird way to lay and Marvin or Jason had to help him walk anywhere. (Write This out)

He knew why Marvin was more anxious than normal. Whizzer knew he had gone full Rosemary's Baby. The baby was so large his stomach was pretty small, so his meals, if he ate, were pretty tiny as of late, and his face has been looking gaunt and tired. On top of that, this morning he had thrown up, so Marvin was on edge, as was the rest of the tight knit clan. Write them freaking out over little shit in his company 

"I wonder what you'll be like. Who you'll look more like, whose hair, whose attitude. I hope you don't end up with as much baggage as either of us did. You have an awesome older brother, and like so many parents besides just me and your dad. Am I your dad? Or your mom? Whatever you want to call me I guess. I've been thinking of names. What do you think about Elaine?" There was a gentle little movement of a hand or foot and Whizzer beamed. 

"I like it too. If you're a boy I like Sean, or Jacob too. Stick with a J theme maybe? Maybe something weird or crazy like me. Maybe something basic like Connor or Kevin. Girls names are so much easier..." Whizzer resigned to a silent thought process, rubbing the bump and enjoying the calming record. 

After awhile he supposed he should get out, and the water was getting cold. He stared at himself in the mirror, looking at the bump. "Oh you moved. You're a lot lower than yesterday. Ready to come out and say hi?" He smiled and toweled off, throwing on some boxers and one of Marvin's large sweatshirts. 

He had just stepped into the living room when Marvin opened the door after some audible fumbling with the handle. "Hey honey. What are you doing out of bed?" "Marvin I'm fine, the doctor never said I should officially be on bed rest, just that I shouldn't walk around as much as I am." Marvin shook his head diligently and marched him right back to the bedroom. "Nope, but I promise I'll make you want to stay in bed." He purred softly, Whizzer laughing. "What I wanted was a bowl of ice cream but okay." He laughed as he laid down and felt Marvin pull back the collar and pepper him with kisses. 

"What has gotten into you?" "Three glasses of bourbon." "Ugh Jesus. I told Mendel to distract you not get you wasted." "I'm not wasted." "Definitely tipsy." "Maybe so." Whizzer gave up trying to bicker and simply enjoyed this affectionate Marvin he's missed so much. It's been weeks, which is almost unheard of in their relationship- but anxiety isn't exactly an aphrodisiac. 

Marvin went down on him, which again, is almost entirely unheard of. There's a lot of psychology behind giving with no receiving expected, and though it was never something Whizzer got upset with him for since the sex was still amazing, it was just kind of nice to lay in his sweatshirt and dig his head into the pillows without doing much in return. 

After two rounds Marvin had gone to brush his teeth and Whizzer was still in his comfy pile of hormones and ecstasy- falling asleep that night was easy. 

Staying asleep was another thing.

The baby had woken him up a few times, with small kicks and cramps and back pain. He dug his face into Marvin's shoulder, not realizing how hard he had been clamping down on his lover's arm. "Hun? You okay?" "Huh? Yeah, just some back pain, sorry." He said, releasing his grip. "Is it baby time?" He mumbled, still half asleep. "Probably not." And though fully awake Marvin would've questioned that answer, sleepy Marvin simply pecked his cheek and tried to go back to sleep. 

Whizzer has spent the rest of the night zoning in and out of sleep, continuously awoken by some pain or another. It didn't start to get really bad until the sun rose. He awoke officially to sunlight blaring in his eyes and a large pain compressing his belly. Whizzer pushed himself up and back against the head board, breathing through it quietly and gripping the sheets. 

After it had passed he crawled out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom. He relieved his bladder and stared at his appearance in the mirror. The baby was really low. He winced a little and sighed. This was probably it. The brunette moved quietly through the apartment, making some tea and trying to relax on the couch. He knew from the videos that if he panicked, the baby would panic. He had distracted himself with some morning news and moaning quiet cow noises into a pillow until Marvin had woken up. 

"Hey baby, you're up early." Marvin noted, starting to set up the coffee machine. Whizzer slowly pushed himself off from the couch and laughed nervously. "Yeah well the baby woke me up, as per usual." He waddled into the kitchen and leaned on the counter with his mug in hand. 

"I'm excited for Jason's baseball game today, like actually. I think you definitely forced some talent into the kid." "Well it's definitely more of a skill when it comes to kid's baseball." "I was thinking we leave around 12? The game starts at 1 and I want to be there early because... you know." Marvin always felt intense pressure to make a good impression around other parents. Whizzer tightened his lips and looked at the clock. He probably wouldn't last that long. "I was thinking we could go to that ice cream place we like, it's pretty close to the field and we can always drive if you're feeling tired-" 

"Marvin uh- woah." He cut himself off as a large contraction pressed into him, and he leaned against Marvin for support, gripping at his shoulders and arms. He groaned loudly, Marvin's pleas of "Honey? Babe? What's wrong?" were falling on deaf ears. He was in tears before the pressure released, and he felt liquid pour down his legs and splash against the floor. "Woah shit!" 

Marvin quickly regressed into his mind trying to process everything. Whizzer was having the baby, his water just broke. Huh. Seems kind of early. Trina's waters didn't go until they were like 8 hours into the process. Was he- 

"Have you been hiding this from me?" Marvin snapped, his mouth moving faster than his brain.  
"What the hell are you talking about?!"  
"Your waters don't go until you're typically hours into labor- you've been hiding this from me!"  
"Are you nuts?! Why would I- when have I ever hidden anything from you?"  
"Uhh let me think, all the hook ups you had when we were first together, this kid-!"  
"Oh please you know I didn't know we were exclusive back then!"  
"Oh how convenient that you didn't know! Whizzer playing dumb again!"  
"Don't act like you didn't force me to play the role of some dumb housewife!"

In a time of stress, the couple did what they did best and what was certainly the most natural, fight and bicker. They continued like this until another contraction hit, and it hit hard. "God you're such an asshole... oh shit!" He cried, gripping the counter as he cried out, his legs buckling and sending him to the floor. That snapped Marvin out of it. "Shit shit, right, oh my god, baby." He held Whizzer close, letting him hold his arm and propping him up as he groaned and cried into his chest, some more fluid falling to the floor. 

After it passed, Marvin helped him to his feet and walked him to the bedroom, helping him get on some fresh boxers, pants and shoes. Marvin was running around frantically, trying to get everything in order. Whizzer took the phone and sat at the dining table, calling Trina and Mendel. "Hey guys, sorry we can't go to the baseball game today." "Oh jeez, what happened?" "Uhh Well...." Whizzer let out a deep breath as a smaller pain circled his stomach. "The baby's coming like, now, so we don't have a choice in the matter. Hell if my water hadn't broken I would probably be helping him with his batting stance." "Oh! Okay, wait-" she put her hand over the receiver and shouted to the rest of the house the news. 

"Your water broke?" "Yeah a few minutes ago." "How close are the contractions?" "Uhh ehh it was like 10 minutes but now it's more like 7." "What are you still doing at home?!" "Well Marvin's running around like a maniac so..." His voice got cut off by a loud grunt and moan, Trina having to pull the phone away from her ear. "Trina, don't tell Marvin but I'm really scared. How did you do this?" "Anger and doctors." She chuckled and sighed, "Whizzer you'll be fine, I know it's scary but so is the rest of life." 

The man nodded and ran a soothing hand in circles over the bump. "Now get to the hospital!" "I'm fine, I have to wait for Marvin to install the car seat." "Whizzer. Hospital. Now." "I'm sure we don't have to go right now..." "Whizzer-" "They're 7 minutes apart we have plenty of time." "Whiz-" "The hospitals only a short drive away." "W-" "Hell they don't even hurt that bad we can wait a little longer." "Whizzer!" "Please don't make me go..." 

Trina sighed and tried to calm the man through the phone. "You're going to be fine. Take your hospital bag and march down to Marvin's car and get to the damn hospital. I'm hanging up. Go. We'll meet you there." 

The line went dead and Whizzer tightened his jaw, finding a bit more resolve, at the very least enough to get his bag and get out of the apartment. He knocked on their neighbors door, leaning against the doorway and mumbling through a contraction, "Baby's comin', can't go to ball game, going to hospital.." 

The two helped him down the stairs and turned him back around when he turned and said, "never mind it's probably just fake I think I left something upstairs." Marvin thanked them wearily for getting him in the car. They waved and said they'd meet them there. Marvin softly took Whizzer's hand in his own, kissing the back of it. "The next time we see this building there will be three people coming home." Whizzer groaned and tried to get comfortable in the seat. "I love you, but for fucks sake just drive." "Right."

Marvin put in Whizzer's favorite Pink Floyd tape in an effort to keep him happy and calm. The drive the hospital was uneventful with the exception of a poorly timed speed bump, and within a half hour Whizzer was situated in his hospital bed, being strapped into a few monitors. 

"I just wanna sleep." The younger man whined softly, looking at Marvin with a pout and gripping his hand as the doctor did her initial checks. "Alright, baby is head down, just like we like 'em. You're about 4 centimeters down, I'll come back soon to see how you progress. Will you be wanting an epidural administered?" "You guys do that here?" Marvin asked. This was the same hospital Jason was born at and they never offered it to Trina. 

"Oh we've been doing it here since the mid-60s." She answered with a soft laugh. Oh god Marvin could already foresee Trina turning on her heel to find her old OB. "Yes, please." Whizzer answered, "That sounds great. Those all natural women can suck-" Marvin gently pinched Whizzer's ear, giving him a warning look. "Sorry..." "oh I've heard much worse in my profession, promise." She winked and walked out of the room. 

Whizzer had been relaxing for a few minutes before a team of interns and doctors came into the room, the head doctor describing the situation and it's rarity. "Can you please get out?" Marvin snapped, already looking a little ragged. "You two decided to go to a training hospital, you signed the release forms." "Hey listen here bud-" "Marvin... it's fine, they're just trying to learn. Hi." He waved softly to the students. 

It was only a few minutes more before they moved on, Marvin still a little fired up. "You were growling like a guard dog." "Well I just didn't like that they saw you as some anomaly." "I kind of am honey." Whizzer chuckled and softly kissed his cheek before gripping his hand tight, breathing and groaning through another pain.

Cordelia and Charlotte came in with balloons and a bear, deciding to make a quick Walgreens trip. Whizzer really loved that bear, in terms of squeezing it to pieces, and some primal part of Marvin was almost jealous. The three had been chatting and encouraging their friend up until the epidural was given, and holy shit Whizzer loved drugs. 

Everything was kind of spacey for a little while after, and though Marvin laughed when the younger man complimented the exact shape of his nose, he was glad Whizzer was feeling better, because according to the paper reading, the contractions were only getting stronger and quicker. 

Whizzer had gotten a short nap in before Jason ran in and looked around in a panic. "Is everything okay? Is he crashing?!" "You've been watching too many soap operas kid. Whiz is fine he's just sleeping." "You let him watch medical dramas?" Charlotte asked in shock. "He's 13! He could be doing worse things." "Oh yeah because I heard there's a huge drug problem in the 7th grade. All the kids are jacked up on skazz." Whizzer quipped, giggling to himself and yawning. 

"Oh hey! Are you okay?" "I'm fiiiiine don't worry." Marvin bent down next to his son's ear. "A lot of drugs." Jason nodded and leaned next to him. "Jason 2 is a great name." He whispered. The four adults laughed and Whizzer squinted, "I'm not that messed up you little monster." He chuckled and groaned a little bit, shifting in the bed and sitting more upright, Marvin immediately trying to help and getting a slap to his hand. 

"Where are you parents?" Cordelia asked, turning around as Trina and Mendel walked in. "It took him like twenty minutes to park." She explained in exasperation. "Jason jumped out the second the car stopped." Mendel laughed uncomfortably and glared at Jason. "Are you not going to your game kiddo?" "No, I'd rather be here. This is waaaay more exciting than hitting one ball per hour." 

Whizzer shrugged, "well so far it's just watching me whine for a minute every few minutes." Eventually everyone got back to talking and Trina sat on the edge of the bed, "Feeling any better?" "Yeah... I got some drugs so I feel better, but my head is kind of foggy. I can't tell whether I want to cry or throw up or scream." "Oh it'll be like that for at least a month after this. You're doing great though, you beat my record of taking this long before you start to crush Marvin's hand on purpose." 

Whizzer overall was kind of weirded out by how boring it was, the doctor came in every other hour, made a few notes, told him his progress and left. The epidural was wearing off slowly, and it was really starting to hurt again. By the time 3 o'clock had rolled around he had reached the stage of wanting to cut Marvin's dick off. Cordelia tried to keep him thinking positively, whenever the doctor would make a comment that'd stress him out. 

When it came time to push, everyone finally got booted, Marvin encouraging his lover and rubbing his hand and pushing his hair out of his eyes. He couldn't get over how insanely happy he felt, just pure joy, even when Whizzer was yelling at him. "Come on baby, I'm so proud of you." "Oh fuck off... I love you... god dammit." Marvin chuckled a little bit and kissed his cheek, smiling wide as the doctor announced the progress. "There's the hair baby did you hear that?" Whizzer smiled in exhaustion and nodded, just wanting to get through this. 

And get through it he did. It took some weird positions to turn the baby around a bit but they came out with a dramatic scream, the tears of pain quickly transforming into happy tears.

The OB placed the baby on his chest, immediately after to get some skin to skin and the couple could hardly speak they were crying so hard. "I can't even see if they're a boy or a girl." Whizzer choked out, his eyes too flooded with tears. "It's a little baby girl." The Doctor unformed him softly, inviting a whole fresh set of tears. "Oh Marvin, a girl." He whispered, glancing up at Marvin who was in an equal state of distress. 

The baby was taken away to be weighed, checked and cleaned before being handed to Marvin, Whizzer busy delivering the placenta. Once the whole mess was over, Whizzer was given his daughter back and was left alone in his room. After a few minutes, the rest of the family quietly crept in, smiling wide at the sudden appearance of a bundle of blankets. 

"Oh my god!" Cordelia shrieked, doing her absolute best to keep her voice at a whisper. "Hi guys," Marvin said softly, waving them over after wiping his cheeks of tears. "Was everyone this teary eyed when I was born?" Jason asked, looking over the bed at his new half-sibling. It was cute, but no need for all the theatrics. Marvin laughed and nodded, "of course kid. Babies are amazing, especially when they're yours." 

"Whizzer, are you doing okay?" Charlotte asked, resting a hand on his shoulder. Whizzer was brought back into the real world and laughed a little, "gosh I didn't even notice you guys. I'm amazing, and so is this little angel." "Is it a boy or a girl?" Mendel asked, leaning over to get a peak. 

The couple smiled, Whizzer sitting up a little more to give everyone a better look at her. "Everyone, meet Elaine." The room awed, "oh Whizzer I love that name." Trina cooed, gently moving the blanket with her finger so more of her face was revealed. "Brown or Cohen?" Jason asked, looking between the two. "They just had a baby kid don't make them fight." Mendel scolded lightly. The couple laughed and Marvin sighed, "We decided on Brown. I already have a Cohen to keep the name going." He explained, gesturing to Jason. 

"Oh Elaine Brown is perfect." Charlotte said, "is she healthy?" "A perfect 7 pounds and 2 ounces." Whizzer said, still grinning like an idiot. Elaine let out a small noise somewhere between a yawn and a whine and opened her eyes a little bit, shifting under her blankets. "Hello baby. Look at all your family." Whizzer cooed, gently moving the blanket so she could move her hand a bit.


End file.
